Suffolk County Police boat blaze busters put out a raging fire on a vessel and rescued three boaters who escaped the inferno.
The Marine Unit was dispatched to an out-of-control fire on a 2014 Rodma Cruiser approximately one mile south of Timber Point in the Great South Bay.
The three people on board the boat hopped on another boat, then eventually boarded a Suffolk County Police Department vessel. They were not hurt.
Officers aboard Marine Kilo deployed fire suppression hoses to put out the big blaze.
The Suffolk County Police Department Marine Units patrol the 500 square miles of navigable waterways in the Police District, from the Connecticut state line which bisects the Long Island Sound, to the New York state line three miles south of Fire Island in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Land areas covered include Fire Island and Jones Island barrier beaches and the islands of the Great South Bay. Marine units also respond to water and ice rescues on the inland lakes, ponds and streams of the District.
The Bureau is staffed by 83 sworn officers and civilian personnel, augmented each summer by the addition of eight officers on seasonal assignment.
Approximately 50 officers are Coast Guard-licensed Masters (captains) and about 70% are Emergency Medical Technicians - Defibrillator (EMT-D). Barrier beach units, boats, and the SCUBA team are available 24 hours a day.
Marine officers also enforce the New York State Navigation Law and the Environmental Conservation Law, as well as local ordinances unique to the waterways and barrier beaches.
The Suffolk Police Marine Bureau aggressively enforces New York State's boating while intoxicated (BWI) laws. Suffolk County routinely leads the State in BWI arrests.
The core of the Marine Bureau fleet are 40-foot patrol boats: Bravo in Huntington, Delta in Port Jefferson, and Juliett and Kilo in the western and eastern Great South Bay.
These vessels respond to search and rescue (SAR) missions for overdue or disabled vessels and missing persons. Officers of the Marine Bureau are available, trained, and equipped to tow disabled boats, and dewater sinking boats, and perform marine firefighting. The Bureau also handles boating accidents and several officers are trained marine accident investigators. Marine units also handle disturbances on passenger ferries and charter boats and transport police personnel and investigating officers to the barrier beach.