PORTLAND, Maine — A fisherman from Maine said he is lucky to be alive after the boat he was working on caught fire off the coast of New Hampshire last weekend.
Steve Ames of Westbrook is one of six people rescued Sunday night by the U.S. Coast Guard near Portsmouth. The Coast Guard said it responded to a mayday call just before 9 p.m.
Ames said the fire started in the engine room and moved quickly, sending black smoke into the air. The crew was forced to jump from the burning boat, named "Three Girls," into a life raft.
"I've experienced breakdowns. I've experienced the boat not pumping out, from a hose being disconnected or a bilge pump not working. But nothing of this magnitude," he told NEWS CENTER Maine.
Ames recounted frantically getting survival suits out for everyone to safely jump ship, then swimming from the ship to the raft.
He captured the experience on his cellphone as he and his crewmates huddled and launched flares to get the attention of rescuers. After being located by a Coast Guard plane, he said it took about two hours for them to be brought to safety aboard a Coast Guard cutter.
No one was injured. Ames, who has fished his entire life off the Maine coast, called it a miracle.
"A fire is a fisherman's worst nightmare," he said. "By far that is the worst scenario you could imagine, especially 100 miles offshore."
The boat was towed back to port Wednesday in Portland Harbor, where the Portland Fire Department was called in to make sure the fire didn't re-ignite.
Ames credits his captain, Rob Roberge, for keeping the crew alive and said he is ready to get back out on the water.