Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Cravens, a crew member aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium from Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach, Florida, responds to a sailboat explosion in Back Bay, Florida, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016.. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Kerry Doris
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla.— The Coast Guard rescued a 70-year-old man Friday after a sailboat explosion in Back Bay.
At 1:55 a.m. watch standers from Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach received a Marine Emergency Response Team activation reporting a sailboat exploded with a 70-year-old man aboard. The sailboat came free from its mooring and caught another sailboat on fire in the Back Bay mooring field behind Salty Sam’s Restaurant.
A 29-foot Response Boat-Small II boat crew from Station Fort Myers Beach was launched, arrived on scene and rescued the 70-year-old man. He suffered minor burns and was transported by EMS to HealthPark Medical Center in Fort Myers.
A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boat crew from Station Fort Myers, Lee County Fire and Rescue, and Cape Coral Fire and Rescue isolated both sailboats and extinguished the fires.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation.
MERT consists of multiple federal, state and local marine emergency responders.
