Two men on a trip to Catalina Island escaped a boat fire Friday morning 10 miles off the Newport Coast, authorities said.
A good Samaritan who saw the fire made a mayday call to authorities at 9:21 a.m., according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Carrie Braun. The department released audio of the call, during which the caller describes black smoke rising from a 30-foot boat with two aboard.
The pair, two men in their 60s, managed to board a dinghy attached to their boat and were brought into the boat of the good Samaritan who called authorities, Braun said.
Harbor Patrol deputies responded and extinguished the fire, which left the boat scorched along one of its sides.
No “significant injuries” were suffered by either passenger, Braun said.
KTLA’s Matt Phillips and Chip Yost contributed to this report.
