By Curt Brown
The Standard-Times
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Two teenagers were rescued Thursday afternoon by firefighters as they clung to either a buoy or a lobster pot in the Acushnet River, fire officials said.
Fire Chief Michael Gomes said the teens -- one male and one female and about 16 years old -- were swimming at East Beach and went beyond the swimming area and became fatigued. Gomes did not have their names and said he believed they were visiting from New York.
The teens appeared to be in distress and were spotted “bobbing up and down” in the water by retired Fall River Fire Chief Robert Viveiros, who was sitting on his front porch on East Rodney French Boulevard, watching boat traffic in the channel with binoculars, according to Gomes. The teens were between Monkey’s Island and Butler Flats Lighthouse.
Viveiros then called 911 about 1:15, he said.
Engine 11 with the Fire Department’s fire rescue boat was dispatched from the Brock Avenue Fire Station, launched from Davy’s Locker and reached the teens and had them onboard the boat in “under 11 minutes,” he said.
Gomes commended the quite response by Lt. Thomas Perry and his crew. “I’m extremely proud of the 11-minute response time. That’s quite an achievement,” he said.
The teens were returned to Davy’s Locker and evaluated by emergency medical technicians, according to Gomes. He did not believe they were transported to St. Luke’s Hospital.
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