Good Samaritan rescues fisherman off Oregon coast as flames engulf boat, Coast Guard says

A boater off the coast of Oregon rescued a fisherman trapped aboard a commercial fishing vessel as it burst into flames on Saturday morning, a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) official said.

The lone fisherman aboard the 42-foot commercial vessel sent in the distress call at 6:30 a.m. while about 2 miles off the coast of Oregon’s Manzanita Beach, the official added. 

When Coast Guard rescuers arrived and found the vessel engulfed in flames, the official said the crew learned that a Good Samaritan had rescued the fisherman before the fire consumed the ship.

The Coast Guard brought the fisherman aboard their vessel and took him to shore, officials said. He reportedly suffered no injuries while escaping the fire and was in good condition.

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Another fisherman trolling near the incident described seeing the vessel erupt in flames to FOX13 Seattle.

“He got off the boat before it went up really bad,” the fisherman said. “There’s no stopping that fire … It’s a sad deal watching your boat go down.”

He added: “It’s one of the many things that could go wrong out here.”

The Coast Guard set up a 1000-yard safety zone around the burning boat as smoke billowed into the sky.

Later in the day, the Coast Guard tweeted the boat had burned down to the waterline and continued to smolder about 1 mile west of Nehalem Bay State Park.

It was unclear how the fire started. No additional information was immediately provided.