Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire Rescue makes dramatic rescue 37 miles offshore

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WBTW) — Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire Rescue crews on Monday responded to the further offshore call in its history, helping a boat 37 miles off the coast.

Officials say one of the vessel’s motors died during a big storm.

“When you’re out on the ocean and it’s that rough, you could be on top of the wave, they could be underneath, we could be probably half a mile from each other and not see each other,” Battalion Chief Jim Edbrooke said.

The U.S. Coast Guard fielded a distress call about 5:30 p.m. from boaters asking for help getting out of the storm. They’d been on the water for more than 12 hours at that point.

The Coast Guard asked Edbrooke’s team to respond, and it took them about an hour to reach the distressed boat.

Edbrooke says they found six people on board and escorted them out of the storm and back to shore.

“When we got to them, they were very appreciative that we were there,” Edbrooke said. “It gave them that comfort level of being able to push their motor a little harder to get back in through the waves.”

Edbrooke says his biggest concern, because of the five-to-eight-foot waves and wind, was the chance of losing contact with the boat on the way out to help.

He says thankfully everyone on board made it back safe and sound. Edbrooke adds good boating safety practices helped.

“The nice part about it was they did have all of the required safety equipment,” Edbrooke said. “They did have their life jackets on, they did have working VHF radios and there was someone on shore who knew that they were still out.”

Edbrooke said most water rescues take place about three to five miles offshore, but the department is always training to be prepared for situations such as Monday’s.

“We might have to go the way that isn’t the most comfortable or the easiest ride,”he said. “So, getting used to those situations just makes it a lot more comfortable when we’re in that position in a rescue.”

Because the U.S. Coast Guard took the call but didn’t respond in this situation, News13 has reached out to learn more on what calls they do and don’t respond to.

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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook , and X, formerly Twitter . You can also read more of her work, here .

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