A youtube video: SKIP THIS LINK AS ALL THE IMAGES ARE ALSO IN THE OTHER LINKS BELOW
The next two links are local news stories with interviews of the Boston Whaler boat crew.
https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/virginia/eastern-shore/cape-charles-medevac-vessel-fire/291-f5cb7756-c1ea-4743-91c7-bb6cff491dea
[Moderator's note: THAT REPORT USES THE IMAGES FROM A FACEBOOK POST BY THE RESCUERS. I have extensively edited this thread to include much additional information--Moderator]
See https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 530&type=3
[FACEBOOK account by Shawn Shapiro, Jr., of the event follows with some editing to improve readability--Moderator]
[On February 9, 2021 we] were fishing at the Triangles. [At] 2 p.m. we were getting ready to head back. Off in the distance we noticed heavy black smoke.
Mark Clemens decided we better go have a closer look to be on the safe side.
We hailed the Coast Guard. They started heading to the vessel--they were about 25-nm away, and we were about 10-nm away from the [source of the smoke].
As we approached, the boat was completely engulfed in flames. We didn’t see any lifeboat or life vest floating. We thought [the crew] must have jumped overboard. At that moment we [went astern of the burning boat] and saw two two men hanging onto the transom for dear life, with the boat's blazing flames rolling over their hands.
We got the younger man aboard. He said, “help my buddy--he is in worse shape than me.” The older man, the boat captain, was barely able to hang onto the transom. He made a last-ditch effort and put an arm [in a] life ring. My dad and I barely got him aboard. The man was burned from his forehead down, with skin hanging off both his hands, and with nothing but red skin and his wrists bleeding. His eyes were burned blood-red, and he was shaking very badly from hypothermia. They had been in the water about 40 minutes.
We got them inside. We warmed them up in the heat and put blankets and our jackets on them.
We started heading toward the Coast Guard and were able to meet them. They came aboard, grabbed the guys, and had the helicopter on the way all in about 10 minutes. As they were getting transferred off of our boat, off in the distance the smoke from their vessel disappeared and vessel had sunk.
Today we saved theses guys lives, and I will never forget the look on their faces. They never made a MAYDAY call. While trying to get to their lifeboat on the hard top they fell overboard and the boat went up in a matter of minutes. Luckily they held onto the transom. God Bless!
https://www.wavy.com/news/virginia/coast-guard-good-samaritans-rescue-2-injured-men-after-boat-fire-off-cape-charles-coast/