Two commercial fishermen were rescued from a vessel fire on Sunday, Jan. 2, off the coast of Florida, approximately 28 miles south of Fort Myers Beach.
The Coast Guard reports that the captain of the 65-foot fishing boat Jenna Dawn put out an emergency call to the Coast Guard in St. Petersburg, Fla., at 8:13 p.m. on Sunday after the fire started. The captain activated an EPIRB to mark the vessel’s location.
“Getting accurate and corresponding information from the initial call over channel 16 combined with the use of an EPIRB directly impacted the outcome of this case,” said Cmdr. Jeanine Menze, operations officer, Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater. “We were able to know where they were located.”
The aircrew transported the men to Fort Myers Beach High School, where they were met by local emergency services personnel.
