Multiple agencies respond to large vessel fire; two rescued
The Cape Coral Fire Department’s Marine units assisted nine other agencies when a large yacht caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico Monday morning.
Lee County received a call of a large boat fire three miles south of Sanibel Island in the Gulf of Mexico just before 11 a.m. Marine 1, out on a training exercise, immediately responded along with vessels from other fire districts as well as the Fish & Wildfire Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard.
According to Lt. Michael Russell, a Good Samaritan fisherman rescued a man and a woman from the Gulf waters and they were then transferred to a craft from Fish and Wildlife. Cape Coral was the first emergency services unit to arrive and transported the two occupants to Sanibel Island to be checked by paramedics within 40 minutes of the call for help.
“They were upset at the loss of the boat, but they were glad to have escaped uninjured,” said Russell in a prepared statement released late Monday afternoon by the Cape Coral Fire Department.
Firefighting boats from Sanibel Island and Iona-McGregor arrived shortly after and began fighting the fire. The fire was reported out and the boat began to sink at 12:15 p.m. The cause of the fire was undetermined according to Sanibel Island fire officials and no damage estimate was immediately available.
A total of 10 local, state and federal agencies responded to the incident, including the Cape Coral Fire Department, Iona-McGregor, Sanibel Island, Bonita Springs, Pine Island and Estero Fire Districts joining the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County EMS, the USCG and FWC.
“This is a great example of how our regional MERT program worked,” said Cape Coral Fire Department spokesman Michael Heeder in the agency statement.
The Marine Emergency Response Team (MERT) is a group of specially trained firefighters from around the county that are called out when there is someone in the water and a rescue boat is needed.
“The MERT has been active for nearly nine years,” said Heeder. “After 9/11, the local agencies were tasked with supporting search and rescue efforts along with the Coast Guard, and grant funding helped purchase the equipment we needed.”
Source: Cape Coral Fire Department
Multiple agencies respond to large vessel fire; two rescued
The Cape Coral Fire Department’s Marine units assisted nine other agencies when a large yacht caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico Monday morning.
Lee County received a call of a large boat fire three miles south of Sanibel Island in the Gulf of Mexico just before 11 a.m. Marine 1, out on a training exercise, immediately responded along with vessels from other fire districts as well as the Fish & Wildfire Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard.
According to Lt. Michael Russell, a Good Samaritan fisherman rescued a man and a woman from the Gulf waters and they were then transferred to a craft from Fish and Wildlife. Cape Coral was the first emergency services unit to arrive and transported the two occupants to Sanibel Island to be checked by paramedics within 40 minutes of the call for help.
“They were upset at the loss of the boat, but they were glad to have escaped uninjured,” said Russell in a prepared statement released late Monday afternoon by the Cape Coral Fire Department.
Firefighting boats from Sanibel Island and Iona-McGregor arrived shortly after and began fighting the fire. The fire was reported out and the boat began to sink at 12:15 p.m. The cause of the fire was undetermined according to Sanibel Island fire officials and no damage estimate was immediately available.
A total of ten local, state and federal agencies responded to the incident, including the Cape Coral Fire Department, Iona-McGregor, Sanibel Island, Bonita Springs, Pine Island and Estero Fire Districts joining the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County EMS, the USCG and FWC.
“This is a great example of how our regional MERT program worked,” said Cape Coral Fire Department spokesman Michael Heeder in the agency statement.
The Marine Emergency Response Team (MERT) is a group of specially trained firefighters from around the county that are called out when there is someone in the water and a rescue boat is needed.
“The MERT has been active for nearly nine years,” said Heeder. “After 9/11, the local agencies were tasked with supporting search and rescue efforts along with the Coast Guard, and grant funding helped purchase the equipment we needed.”
Source: Cape Coral Fire Department