The quick actions of several South Florida water-based rescue agencies may have saved a man's life Thursday morning.
Fort Lauderdale fire fighters were monitoring radio traffic about 7:40 a.m. when they heard a distress call for a sailboat fire. The victim's boat caught fire off the coast of Southern Broward County and a rescue boat was able to get there and douse the flames.
The 41-foot sailboat was about four miles east of Hallandale Beach Boulevard.
Officers arrived to find that TowBoatU.S. had already pulled the sailor from the sea and he was not hurt. According to a TowBoatU.S. representative, the fire was out by 8:30 a.m.
The company was waiting for the fire department to give the all clear and allow the boat to be towed to land from its location east of Hallandale Beach.
The boat's operator was not injured.