East Jefferson Fire Rescue marine rescue crews were dispatched twice to Admiralty Bay on Sept. 28 to assist two vessels needing emergency assistance. The incidents were unrelated.

The first emergency response began at about 3:15 a.m. when the US Coast Guard called 911 for a sinking vessel with people on board needing rescue, said Bret Black, EJFR fire chief. No details on the vessel were provided. 

When EJFR’s Marine1 arrived, emergency response personnel found a 30-foot cabin cruiser partially sunk off the shoreline of Port Townsend near the ferry terminal. Two people and one dog were rescued from the vessel. One person sustained an ankle injury and was transported to Jefferson Healthcare, Black said.

Once the rescue was complete, Port of Port Townsend staff worked with EJFR personnel to deploy absorbent booms to contain any potential spilled substances from the vessel. Crews worked for more than three hours to encircle the sunken vessel, Black said. 

Later that morning, Marine1 returned to help secure the boat at low tide. The Washington State Department of Ecology and US Coast Guard were notified.

“To our knowledge there was nothing spilled,”Black said. “It is standard procedure to deploy the booms around a sinking vessel. We do not know the cause of the sinking.”

According to Eron Berg, executive director for the Port of Port Townsend, Global Diving and Salvage, working for the U.S. Coast Guard, recovered the fuel on Sunday.

“To help get the boat out of the water, the port assumed custody of the vessel today and has retained Global to refloat the vessel and tow it to the notch to be hauled out this afternoon or early evening,”Berg said in an email Sept. 29. “This work will be reimbursed by DNR’s (Department of Natural Resources) derelict vessel funding.”

At about 8:30 p.m., EJFR crews responded to a second 911 call for a water rescue along the shoreline of Port Townsend. When Marine1 arrived, emergency response personnel found a 35-foot sailboat adrift. The boat had lost power and high winds were driving the boat toward the rocky shoreline. Three people were on board.

The captain of the vessel in distress reported deploying three anchors without success. The vessel’s keel was dragging in the sand and the boat had drifted close to the rocks. Marine 1 deployed a tow line and secured the boat. Over the next 90 minutes, Marine1 towed the boat into the marina and helped the crew tie up at the fuel dock. No injuries or significant damage was reported.

EJFR has two fire rescue boats, Black said, Marine1 and Marine7, “plus a cadre of well qualified operators who staff the vessels as needed from adjacent fire stations.”

Marine 1, The Guardian, is a 33-foot-long specialized firefighting-rescue vessel with an aluminum hull purchased in 2011 using a Department of Homeland Security Port Security grant, Black said.

The boat uses a 330 horsepower Kodiak 5.7 engine to provide marine firefighting capability. The American Turbine Jet pump can achieve volumes of 1,250 gallons per minute. It can also produce 3,000 gallons per minute at 50 PSI to feed a land-based fire engine with unlimited amounts of sea water in the event of a waterfront fire. The boat is equipped with a full electronics package, including a forward-looking infrared camera (FLIR) mounted on the roof.

In 2024, East Jefferson Fire Rescue personnel responded to 15 marine incidents. So far, for 2025, the agency has responded to 12 marine incidents.