San Francisco FD Rescue Boat 1 capsizes sending 7 firefighters into the water
Seven members of the San Francisco Fire Department were thrust into the ocean after a rescue boat capsized in San Francisco this morning.
At 11:15 a.m., the boat capsized for an unknown reason just off the shores of Ocean Beach, according to fire spokesman John Baxter.
The members were conducting a routine drill at the time, Baxter said.
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— Tim Sauder (@TimSauder) March 26, 2016
The U.S. Coast Guard assisted with the rescue, according to USCG spokeswoman Lt. Leigh Van Lear.Two members were rescued by good Samaritans, two other members were able to assist themselves and the three remaining members were rescued by the fire department, Van Lear said.
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“Rescue Boat 1” departed from Marina Green, and then for unknown reasons, capsized near Ocean Beach at 11:18 a.m. according to authorities.
All seven people onboard went into the water.
The 7 crew members were treated on scene, and then four of them were taken to the hospital for further observations.
The public is asked to avoid the Ocean Beach area, as the case is an active investigation, and officials are trying to salvage the rescue boat, which crashed along the rocks, just north of the Sutro Baths.
It was unclear what caused the boat to flip, Baxter said, and the vessel remained overturned in the water into the afternoon.
A spokesman for the National Weather Service said the closest buoy to where the boat rolled was measuring waves of roughly 7 feet and wind gusts of up to 26 mph.
