VINALHAVEN, Maine — A father and son were forced to swim a few hundred yards to shore after a swiftly moving fire engulfed their vessel.
David Anthony and son Blake Anthony were resting Tuesday afternoon after the ordeal.
Vinalhaven Fire Chief Marc Candage said the two men were fortunate to have survived swimming a long distance in such cold waters. The water temperature was about 47 degrees on Tuesday, according to Maine Department of Marine Resources director of communications Jeff Nichols.
The fire chief said the Anthonys reported that the 25-foot lobster boat, called the Midnight Rider, had engine trouble earlier in the day but they believed they had repaired the problem. About an hour later, the two men heard a loud “poof” and then fire quickly spread. The fire moved so quickly that they were unable to get to the fire extinguisher or the survival suits.
The father and son, ages 45 and 21, according to the fire chief, grabbed lobster buoys and jumped overboard. The two men then swam with the aid of the buoys to a small island off Vinalhaven. The chief said they managed to make it to the shore of either Cedar or Crane island. The boat, which was destroyed by the fire, drifted to the shore of the other island.
A fire department boat with two firefighters arrived, and soon after a Maine Marine Patrol vessel arrived and brought the Anthonys to Dyer’s Harbor on Vinalhaven. Marine Patrol Officers Matthew Wyman and Brandon Bezio were on board and, along with firefighters, helped keep the two men warm by covering them with blankets and heating pads. Once the boat arrived at Dyer’s Harbor, additional fire department personnel took the father and son to the island medical center
Chief Carter Sleigh of the U.S. Coast Guard station in Rockland said the Coast Guard received a call at 1:05 p.m. from a good Samaritan on Vinalhaven reporting a boat — which turned out to be the Midnight Rider — fully engulfed in flames. The Coast Guard dispatched its 47-foot motor lifeboat from Rockland and contacted the Maine State Ferry Service to see if it had a boat in the area.
The ferry was in the area and other fishing boats went to the scene of the fire, as did the Fire Department, Maine Marine Patrol and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.