Surrey Fire Service helps rescue father and son capsized at sea

The Surrey Fire Service says it was involved in a rescue operation to help save a father and son whose boat capsized near Crescent Beach Tuesday night.

Assistant Chief of Operations Mike McNamara says fire crews were called from the ocean near South Surrey around 6 p.m.

McNamara says one of the two dialed 911 after capsizing while checking on crab traps.

No one was seriously injured as emergency crews recovered the victims, but McNamara says tensions were raised again when a neighbour went out on a paddle board to help search.

“There was a little bit of anxiety there, because he was unaccounted for a bit, but he eventually turned up on the shore. So he had went out on this paddle board to see if he could find them. By that time, they had already been picked up by the rescue boat,” McNamara explained.

He says an unknown helicopter operator also helped in the search by shining a light on the water.

“We’re still unsure if it was out doing some training or who it was. But they had some information on what was happening…That was extremely helpful for the rescue.”

McNamara says the father and son were likely in the water for close to half an hour with life jackets on.

He says the Surrey Fire Service recommends not venturing onto the water after sunset.

“You put yourself in a very, very vulnerable position by doing that, because you’re putting yourself at risk — and then you make the search much more difficult for first responders.”