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Boat crews from Downe Township Fire Department, and Little Creek Fire Department responded to the 42-foot recreational boat fire in Delaware Bay, on Tuesday July 18.
A Cumberland County dispatcher called Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay watchstanders at 11 a.m. and relayed that the 42-foot sport fisher, the Done Deal, was on fire near Delaware Bay’s main shipping channel.
The mariner aboard was rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard Station Cape May 29-foot Response Boat-Small crew based out of Station Fortesque in New Jersey, and safely brought to shore as local firefighters extinguished the blaze.
The boater was brought to Higbee’s Marina in the Fortescue section of Downe Township, where EMTs checked him for smoke inhalation, the Coast Guard said.
A good Samaritan on a nearby boat was the first to notify the Coast Guard, the dispatcher said.
The good Samaritan said the boat was fully engulfed in flames and the sole occupant was on the bow, according to the Coast Guard.
“It is important to highlight the teamwork involved in ensuring the safe recovery of the boater and extinguishing the fire,” said Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Higgins, the search and rescue mission coordinator at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay. “The efficient and fast communications from everyone involved, especially from the good Samaritan, were critical in saving this man’s life today.”
The boat’s owner is arranging commercial salvage. The incident remains under investigation.
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