Several people had to be rescued after a sailboat burst into flames in Vancouver’s English Bay on Wednesday afternoon.
The blaze broke out around 4:30 p.m., forcing the five people on board to flee in a small dinghy.
Multiple people reported the fire to the Coast Guard, but before emergency crews could arrive a group of Good Samaritans on a fishing trip stepped in to offer assistance.
“We decided to pick up our fishing lines and go over and help out as best we could,” Joe Tibble, who helped with the rescue, told CTV News.
““It took us about 10 minutes to get there. There were no boats around. The sailboat was engulfed in flames, smoke billowing from it.”
Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, but one of the rescue passengers did need oxygen when emergency crews arrived.
The Coast Guard, firefighters and police all responded to the blaze, which left the 38-foot sailboat completely destroyed.
It’s unclear what caused the fire but Tibble said someone from the burned boat suggested it could have been a battery issue.
