By Laura French
CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — An off-duty firefighter-EMT rescued a group of boaters from a sinking boat on Friday.
Firefighter-EMT Todd Schwalbe, a member of the Charlotte County Fire and EMS Marine Operations team, was captaining his own boat with a crew of divers when he noticed the fellow boaters in distress about 15 miles from the coast, according to a Facebook post shared by the department.
Julio Morales, who was on the sinking boat, said on Facebook that Schwalbe “was the only one that responded to our flare gun and waving with our diving flag.”
Schwalbe and his crew rescued the boaters and then called the Coast Guard and local police department for assistance.
“I cannot [imagine] the chaos in our country without the services of these heroes that are always risking [their] lives to serve and help our citizens, even when they are NOT on duty,” Morales wrote.