Two people forced to jump into the Hudson River after their boat caught fire were rescued Saturday evening by the Westchester County Police Marine Unit.
Kieran O'Leary, a spokesman for the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, said the county's Marine Unit was on patrol near Sing Sing prison in Ossining at 5:22 p.m. when officers observed black smoke coming from a vessel to their south.
Officers aboard the Marine 3 patrol boat located a burning 18-foot powerboat and saw two people jump into the river near Briarcliff Manor as they approached.
Neither person was wearing a personal flotation device, also known as a life preserver. Officers Isai Moreira and Willie Saez were able to pull the two people, a man and woman in their 20s, aboard the police boat.
The Marine 3 officers then used the patrol boat’s firefighting equipment to battle the growing fire, which started in the vessel’s engine. The county police Marine 2 patrol boat also responded and assisted in extinguishing the blaze, O"Leary said.
Firefighters from the Croton Fire Department also responded by boat and assisted at the scene.
The fire-damaged vessel, an 18-foot Baylinder Bowrider, was towed from the scene by Sea Tow.
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