Cottesloe Beach fire: Two sailors make miracle escape as boat engulfed in huge inferno

Two sailors made a miracle escape when their boat became engulfed in huge fire off an iconic beach.

Emergency services rushed out to the 68ft (12m) vessel that suddenly erupted in flames a mile off Cottesloe Beach in Perth, Australia today. The two men on board had tried to escape the blaze in a dinghy, and were rescued with just moments to spare after a life saving helicopter directed a police boat to them. A Fremantle Port Authority response boat eventually put out the fire with water cannons. Terrifying footage released by a Surf Live Saving team shows dark black smoke rising high into the sky above the waves as the fire rages.

A Western Australia Police Force spokesman said the fire had begun in the boat’s engine bay, and that two men who escaped from the burning vessel were found safe in their dinghy. “The two occupants were escorted back to shore” at the port of Freemantle, they added.

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A Surf Live Saving WA spokesperson wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Our WLRH was first on scene to this vessel off Cottesloe this morning. Fully engulfed in flames, the crew directed WA Police to survivors in their dinghy where the 2 occupants were located safe and escorted back to shore.”

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