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Just before 11 p.m. Sunday night, June 23 while the Islip Fire Department Marine Unit was securing their vessel after responding to a call for a paddle boarder in distress, a call came in for a mutual aid response to the West Islip Fire Department for a boat taking on water in the vicinity of the double span of the Robert Moses Bridge, according to Islip Fire Department.
Unit 26 responded immediately and while heading to the location, crew members spotted a hand-held flair on water level about a half-mile offshore west of West Islip Marina, the department said.
Upon arrival, the crew encountered the two adults and three children struggling to stay on the partially submerged vessel ad quickly evacuated three children onto Islip Fire Department's Marine Unit 26, according to the department.
By now completely filled with water, the distressed boat rolled over and began sinking as the Islip crew continued evacuating the two adults.
With the rescued people safely on board, Marine 26 took them to an awaiting West Islip Fire Department EMS crew at West Islip Marine for evaluation.
"Being that our boat was fully manned and underway when the distress call came in, we were able to quickly respond with the appropriate resources and rescue the occupants of the distressed (boat) as their boat sank, demonstrating that time is of the essence in water rescue scenarios," Islip Fire Department's 1st Assistant Chief Ron Pfuhl, the officer-in-charge of Marine Unit 26, said.
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