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Both were taken to an area hospital with injuries that weren’t believed to be life-threatening following the treacherous late-afternoon operation on June 28.
Contractors apparently were clearing trees at the top of the 20-foot high Dundee Dam -- which dumps tons of water into a lower section of the Passaic River in Garfield -- when their boat got snagged, responders said.
Firefighters from Clifton, Garfield and Elmwood Park put boats into the river to rescue the three occupants.
VIDEO shows the boat going over the side of the falls as one firefighter jumps out and the other two ride it down.
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Boyd A. Loving captured the airborne drama at the Passaic River in Garfield.
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HIGH DRAMA: Photog Captures NJSP Rescue Of Clifton Firefighters From Passaic River
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Additional boats were called to assist, the U.S. Coast Guard was notified and a dive team was placed on standby.
The civilians – apparently all construction workers -- were brought to safety, along with the firefighter who’d jumped.
The two who went over the falls were then handled by the State Police helicopter, which lowered a rescuer to pluck them from the river one at a time.
The firefighters were then brought to ambulances at nearby Nash Park.
New Jersey State Police Lt. Rick Villa, Sgt. First Class Jason Jorgensen, Sgt. Andrew Stephanic, Trooper I Stephen Brown and flight nurse Burke Barnett of Aviation North, along with Trooper II Shamik Songui of T.E.A.M.S. North, handled the rescue.
CBS News broadcast the rescue live: CLICK HERE TO WATCH
The smashed boat remained at the bottom of the falls, at least for now.
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