Boaters rescued off Huron Boat Basin

Update Wednesday, 5:10 p.m.HURON — Four men were rescued from a sinking boat on Tuesday evening.First responders were alerted to the situation shortly after 4 p.m., according to the Erie County Sheriff's Office. One of four men on the boat, an 18-foot Bayliner, told a dispatcher that their vessel was taking on water near the mouth of the Huron River."Me and my buddies are stranded out in Lake Erie," the man told a dispatcher in a recorded 911 call. "We're sinking. We need help immediately."Huron fire Capt. Doug Nash said the boat was taking on water rapidly. Petty Officer Troy Osborn, of the U.S. Coast Guard's Station in Marblehead, estimated the rate to be 5 to 10 gallons a minute.The occupants, who told a dispatcher they were wearing life vests, bailed water out of the boat while waiting for first responders to come to their aid, Osborn said.Those rescue squads included the Huron Fire Department, which Nash said immediately dispatched a 16-foot metal skiff. While not the ideal vessel for a rescue, he said, the skiff, which is not equipped with electronics, was the most readily available. Meanwhile, he said, the Huron Fire Department, Sandusky Fire Department and Ohio Department of Natural Resources moved to pull their larger respective fire boats out of storage.The U.S. Coast Guard, too, sent a boat out to aid the sinking vessel. Osborn said that boat, along with a fishing boat acting as a "good samaritan," reached the stranded boaters first. That took about 40 minutes, he said.Osborn said the water was approximately 1.5 feet deep inside the boat by the time that the Coast Guard arrived. Rescuers helped to pump out the sinking boat and tow it into a Huron boat dock. Nash said two men rode back to shore on the Coast Guard vessel, while the other two men remained in the boat as it was towed.No one was injured in the incident, Nash said. The hobby fishermen, who are from out of state, were not taken to a hospital afterward.The boat was hauled out of the water and placed onto a trailer following the rescue, Osborn said.Despite foggy conditions on Tuesday, Osborn said several boats were out on the water. He said it was not immediately clear why the stranded boat was leaking.The Huron Fire Department's skiff, which had set out first to rescue the stranded boaters, ultimately returned to shore without finding them. Nash said that's largely because the coordinates the fishermen gave did not correspond to their exact location. The skiff required aid from the Berlin Heights Fire Department to make its way back to shore. Nash said visibility was less than 150 feet at the time due to the fog.The larger boat that the Huron Fire Department dispatched temporarily lost power on its way back to shore, too. Nash said its operators were able to get it running again."It was a good effort by all members involved," Nash said of the rescue. He added specifically of the agencies that offered mutual aid: "We appreciate all the help they were able to provide for us tonight."Update Wednesday, 1:05 p.m.HURON – The boat that prompted an emergency rescue Tuesday evening was hauled out of the water and onto onto a trailer after a U.S. Coast Guard vessel towed it to a Huron boat ramp, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.Petty Officer Troy Osborn, of Station Marblehead, said the four occupants of the boat kept it afloat while first-responders hurried to their aid by bailing it out. A U.S. Coast Guard vessel reached the sinking vessel within about 40 minutes, he said. A Sandusky Fire Department vessel and another fishing boat arrived to aid the boat as well.Osborn said the water was approximately 1.5 feet deep inside the boat when the Coast Guard arrived. It's estimated that the boat was taking on 5 to 10 gallons a minute.It was not immediately clear why the boat was leaking, Osborn said.He said several boats were out on Tuesday.Update 10:15 p.m.HURON — Four men were rescued from a sinking boat on Tuesday evening.First-responders were alerted to the situation shortly after 4 p.m., according to the Erie County Sheriff's Office. Capt. Doug Nash, of the Huron Fire Department, said that an 18-foot Bayliner was taking on water near the mouth of the Huron River.Within about five minutes of an initial report, Nash said, one of four hobby fishermen on the boat was reporting to a dispatcher that their vessel had sunk about halfway underwater.Each man was wearing a life vest at the time, Nash said. He said the fishermen were from out of state.The Huron Fire Department immediately dispatched a 16-foot metal skiff, Nash said. Meanwhile, he said, that department, as well as the Sandusky Fire Department and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, moved to pull their larger fire boats out of storage.The skiff was not able to locate the sinking boat, largely because the coordinates the fishermen gave did not correspond to their exact location, Nash said. A U.S. Coast Guard vessel and another fishing vessel instead reached the sinking boat, he said.Nash said the Coast Guard helped the men pump out their boat. Two of the fishermen rode to shore with the Coast Guard, while the other two remained in the vessel that the Coast Guard towed into shore.No one was injured in the incident, Nash said. The men were not taken to a hospital afterward.The skiff required aid from the Berlin Heights Fire Department to make its way back to shore. With heavy fog in the area, Nash said visibility was less than 150 feet.The larger boat that the Huron Fire Department dispatched temporarily lost power on its way back to shore, too. Nash said its operators were able to get it running again."It was a good effort by all members involved," Nash said of the rescue. He added specifically of the agencies that offered mutual aid: "We appreciate all the help they were able to provide for us tonight."Original story: HURON — Four men were rescued from a sinking boat on Tuesday evening.First responders received the distress call just after 4 p.m., according to the Erie County Sheriff's Office.A dispatcher said the boat, which the men had taken out for a fishing trip, was taking on water off the Huron Boat Basin at the time.The U.S. Coast Guard, Erie County Sheriff's Office, Sandusky Fire Department along with the Huron police and fire departments each responded in some way to the call. So did another boater, who a dispatcher said attempted to tow in the sinking boat.No one was injured in the incident, according to the sheriff's office.Check back here tomorrow for more information as additional details become available.