SEPTEMBER 25, 2016
HIGHLANDS, NJ - Eight people were rescued Sunday afternoon after a boat caught fire offshore of Sandy Hook, according to officials at the Coast Guard Detachment New York.
A Coast Guard Sandy Hook crew and firefighters with the New York Fire Department marine division responded to the fire on the 40-foot recreational boat about 5 p.m., according to Coast Guard officials.
When Coast Guard personnel arrived, another boater had helped everyone off the burning vessel, Coast Guard officials said in a news release
Though the fire was extinguished, the boat sank in 85 feet of water about six miles offshore of Sandy Hook, according to the Coast Guard.
Some of the boat's passengers were taken ashore by New York firefighters and treated for smoke inhalation, but their injuries were considered minor.
Coast Guard officials said there was no evidence on Sunday of pollution in the water. Most likely the fuel burned off providing evidence that the engine must have caught fire, completely destroying the boat.