Off-duty firefighter rescues 6 from boat on fire near James River Bridge

    NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia (WTKR) -- An off-duty firefighter helped rescue six men from the water near the James River Bridge on Sunday.

Jason Edwards, a 25-year veteran of the Newport News Fire Department, was on his fishing boat with his father and a friend when the emergency started. He says maybe two minutes after they left the marina, he saw a boat with heavy smoke coming from it.

“Over to my left by the bridge was the six individuals. Three of them had life vests. One of them had a safety ring and they had made their way up to the pilings, described Edwards.”

They managed to get the men onboard. According to Edwards, two of them suffered severe burns.

“They were panicked. They were very thankful to see us. They were thankful to be able to get in the boat.”

The boat was taken in and authorities are investigating to find out what caused the fire. Chief Wesley Rogers is proud but not surprised to hear that Edwards jumped into action.

“It shows you the true heart that our first responders have,” said Rogers. “A lot of individuals would just kind of watch, report it as they sit, but our first responders think, ‘Hey, I’ve got to get out there. I’ve got to help.’ And that’s exactly what he did. He went right towards the danger. Without him, we don’t know what could have happened, but those individuals were lucky to have an individual like that ready to go and in that situation at the right time.”

“I’ve been on the boat my whole life, been on the water my whole life," Edwards added. "Owned several boats before and never been in a situation like that, to have to rescue someone into the boat.”