East Fire Island, NY - November 8, 2015 - Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers rescued three adults and three children from a vessel that ran aground during a fishing trip on the Great South Bay on Saturday night.
Steven Kilmeade, 49, of Bayport, was operating his 33-foot Egg Harbor sport fishing boat in an eastbound direction when the boat hit a sand bar northeast of East Channel buoy number 11, off East Fire Island in the Great South Bay. When the vessel struck the sand bar, one of the passengers, Dustin Damrau, 40, of Medford, was thrown forward, causing him to suffer a head injury and lose consciousness.
Kilmeade called 911 and two Suffolk Police Marine Bureau vessels responded. Marine Bureau officers used the smaller police boat, Marine Papa, to access the scene due to shallow water. Once on board the accident vessel, officers rapidly assessed the condition of the passengers and provided first aid to Damrau, preparing him for immediate transport by Marine Papa to the larger vessel, Marine Kilo. He was then taken to Marine Bureau Headquarters at Timber Point in Great River for transport to the hospital by Exchange Ambulance.
Passengers Eric Lipuma, 41, of Bayport, and his 10-year-old son and 14-year-old friend, were uninjured. Damrau’s 11-year-old son suffered minor injuries. All the passengers were removed from the accident vessel and transported to Timber Point. Kilmeade remained with the vessel to assist in salvage efforts.
A commercial salvage vessel from Reynolds TowBoatUS responded from Bay Shore to remove the accident vessel from the sand bar.