Three rescued as shrimp boat catches fire off Jekyll

Michael Hall, The Brunswick News, Ga.
·1 min read

Apr. 1—Three people were rescued about 4 miles off shore of Jekyll Island Friday after jumping from a burning shrimp boat that sent a plume of black smoke across the horizon visible from the beaches of Jekyll and St. Simons Island.

U.S. Coast Guard Sector Charleston called the Brunswick station around 12:30 p.m. to report that a shrimp boat, the Miss Hopkins from Darien, was burning and three people were on board, a Coast Guard representative said Friday.

"By the time we got out there, there were three people in the water who had been recovered by a passing boat," he said.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources responded as well and picked up the three. The DNR transported the crew to the dock at the public boat ramp on Jekyll Island.

Smoke from the fire could be seen for more than an hour from the beaches as it billowed across the horizon.

The Coast Guard checked for signs of pollution around the boat initially and later with a helicopter from Savannah, the representative said.

It was unclear what started the fire.