Eight people were rescued Saturday from a burning fishing vessel off the coast of Freeport in Southeast Texas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
A crewmember from a 48-foot fishing boat called the Coast Guard early Saturday evening to report a fire on the boat and said they were getting ready to abandon ship. Coast Guard crews launched from Freeport, contained the fire, and transferred the 8 crewmembers aboard the vessel onto a rescue boat.
There were 7 adults and 1 child aboard the ship. Lt. j.g. Melissa McCafferty, command duty officer from the Coast Guard’s Houston-Galveston sector, said everyone onboard had life jackets, and a six-man life raft was also on the vessel.
McCafferty pointed to this as an excellent example of being prepared for emergencies.
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