Within minutes, a South Bend father and his four-month-old daughter were rescued from the St. Joe River.

South Bend firefighters and police say the man’s SUV went into the St. Joseph River around ten o'clock Monday night.

It happened in the 1800 block of Riverside near Beale Street in South Bend.

When the call came in, firefighters and police rushed to the scene. Divers were able to pull the baby and the father out of the car within three minutes.

Captain Bob Means with the South Bend Fire Department rescued them. He says the man was freezing and was a little disoriented. The baby slept through everything and didn't even get wet.

Means says, “They're very fortunate they survived this is someone saw them go in and we were able to respond very quickly and the position of the car if it were deeper water, it would've submerged faster and the likely outcome wouldn't have been as positive.”

Firefighters and police are still investigating. They're not sure if speed was a factor. They say they didn't see any signs of alcohol.