6 people rescued from water at Baltimore's Fort Armistead, near Key Bridge site

Six people were rescued from the water at Baltimore's Fort Armistead early Tuesday near the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site, according to city fire officials. 

The water rescue occurred after a boat began taking on water just after midnight, officials said. 

All six passengers were safely returned to the shore, where they refused medical treatment, according to fire officials. 

Maryland water rescues

First responders in Maryland are not strangers to water rescues. 

In late July, a Baltimore Police helicopter crew took heroic action, rescuing a man who nearly drowned in a city pool.

The pilot landed the helicopter in a field near an elementary school, and Tactical Flight Officer Andre Smith, a former lifeguard, rushed to provide aid. 

"I just kept calling his name, telling him to come back. After about a minute of chest compressions, he came back and was responsive." Smith said.

In February, Anne Arundel County police rescued a man from frigid water in a marina after he fell off his boat. 

The man, Scott Gardiner, told WJZ that he survived for hours in the water before his wife found him and called the police. 

"He was not responsive," his wife, Kathy Gardiner, said. "I tried to pull his head, I grabbed his jacket to pull his head up because he was taking in water, and then I had to call 911."

Kathy said she held onto her husband until first responders arrived. 

"[Kathy] was lying on the pier, arms hanging over, holding her husband out of the water, while he was holding onto a line," Anne Arundel County Police Corporal Trey Keller said.