RNLI Salcombe and Torbay aid crew of fishing vessel reporting a fire onboard
At 8am on Tuesday 27 March the Salcombe all-weather lifeboat and its volunteer crew responded to a ‘Pan Pan’ call from a 26-metre fishing vessel with an engine room fire, 15nm south of Start Point.
Upon arrival, the crew of the fishing vessel confirmed the source of the fire had been isolated and it was thought, but not confirmed, the fire had been extinguished. Unfortunately a crew member had sustained smoke inhalation. A casualty care trained member of the lifeboat crew was transferred to the fishing vessel and confirmed the fisherman was suffering from smoke inhalation and required evacuation to hospital by helicopter.
With the fishing vessel now under tow by the Salcombe lifeboat, and with sea conditions making it unsafe to transfer casualty to the lifeboat, the Coastguard helicopter lifted the casualty off the stern of the fishing vessel. The tow then continued towards Brixham where the volunteer crew of Torbay lifeboat took over the tow, south of the entrance to Dartmouth, for onward passage to Brixham.
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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