Dozens rescued when deep-sea fishing boat catches fire off Gloucester, USCG says
By Web Staff
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GLOUCESTER, Massachusetts (WCVB) — Dozens of people have been rescued from a deep-sea charter fishing boat off Gloucester after a fire broke out on the vessel Wednesday morning, according to the Coast Guard.
The fire broke out on Yankee Patriot II about 2.5 miles off Cape Ann.
“They shut off the engine. We started seeing smoke coming up through a bench we were sitting on. So, they were directing us to get down to a lower level, so the smoke wasn’t coming over us,” said passenger Wes Hart.
All the passengers were wearing life vests and were transferred to rescue boats to be brought back to CG Station Gloucester.
“We were just stuck there until the Coast Guard came,” Hart said. “Kind of exciting. I’ve never been rescued by the Coast Guard before.”
The fire was contained to one of the vessel’s engines, and it was escorted back by the Coast Guard under the power of its other engine.
“We didn’t get to catch any fish, but it was its own kind of adventure,” Hart said.
There were no reports of any injuries or medical concerns among the passengers.
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