MIAMI – Crewmembers from Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce, Fla., rescued two men whose 21-foot boat caught fire at sea about three miles east of Fort Pierce today .
Dean Gross and Copeland Couric, both from Fort Pierce, were aboard their vessel when the fire broke out. Only Gross was reported to have been injured in the incident.
Couric called the Coast Guard for assistance at about 8:18 a.m. using the boat’s VHF marine radio. Within moments, a rescue crew from Station Fort Pierce arrived on scene and brought both men aboard the Coast Guard rescue boat. Both men were transported to the Coast Guard station for transfer to local EMS. Gross was subsequently airlifted to Orlando Regional Hospital.
“Every boater should have a VHF marine radio aboard their vessel,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chris O’Neil, public affairs officer for the Seventh Coast Guard District. “In this case, calling the Coast Guard by VHF radio directly contributed to the swift rescue of these two boaters.”
Source: D7 Public Affairs
Technorati Tags: Coast Guard, Station Fort Pierce
