Man Rescued After 41-foot Sailboat Catches Fire Off Fla. Coast

June 02--A mariner was rescued Thursday morning after his sailboat caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean while off the coast of Broward County.

Fort Lauderdale firefighters were monitoring VHS radio traffic at about 7:40 a.m. when they heard a distress call for a sailboat on fire, Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Heiser said.

A crew of six paramedics who are also divers notified the U.S. Coast Guard and took Fireboat 49 out to sea. They followed a column of smoke rising from the burning boat, six to 10 miles offshore, Heiser said.

They arrived to find that TowBoatU.S. had already pulled the sailor -- who had been the only person on board -- from the sea and found he was not hurt, Heiser said.

The burnt vessel, a 41-foot Beneteau based in Baltimore, Md., is called "Nubian," TowBoatUS spokesman Barney Hauf said. The towing company planned to bring the ruined sailboat to a boatyard in Miami.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Fireboat 21 was responding to a burning boat in Haulover Inlet when firefighters saw the same column of smoke coming from the Nubian.

Firefighters on that fireboat and Fireboat 73, also from Miami-Dade, joined Fort Lauderdale firefighters and the blaze was put out by about 8:30 a.m.

In photographs released by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, the Nubian is covered in foam and the flames are out.

"Common emergency procedures need to be followed by all mariners," Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue Lt. George Izquierdo said in an email. "[It's important to] know where your fire extinguishers are as well as do a full equipment check before heading out an any type of vessel."

He praised the Nubian's captain and said, "Luckily, the owner of the boat knew how to communicate his emergency and was able to assist all rescuers to his location."

It was not clear whether an insurance company, the U.S. Coast Guard or another entity would be investigating the fire and a possible cause could not be identified Thursday.

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