Two emergencies reported in water off Boston as fire breaks out in tugboat, man falls off fishing vessel

By Melissa M. Werthmann, Globe Correspondent

A fire that broke out this morning in a tugboat near Georges Island was quickly extinguished by the vessel’s fire suppression system, the US Coast Guard said.

The flames started in the engine room of the tug Liberty at 7:50 a.m. while the boat was in the Nantasket Narrows, said Petty Officer Adam Sansoucie.

The Coast Guard responded to the scene in a 25-foot response boat from Station Point Allerton in Hull, Sansoucie said.

The fire suppression system in the engine room of the boat activated and extinguished the fire, he said. The system was either a set of sprinklers in the ceiling of the engine room or a carbon dioxide system, he said.

There were four people aboard the tug boat, Sansoucie said. No injuries were reported.

The Boston Fire Department also responded with a boat and will escort the Liberty back into its berth in Boston Harbor, Sansoucie said.

In a separate incident, a 73-year-old man on board the fishing vessel Pamada in Massachusetts Bay fell into the water, Sansoucie said.

A good Samaritan vessel, the Michael and Erin, responded to the Coast Guard’s marine safety information broadcast and established a communications relay between the Pamada and the Coast Guard, he said.

The man was pulled from the water by his son and is possibly hypothermic, Sansoucie said.

The Coast Guard sent a 47-foot boat to the scene and the man will be transported for treatment via the North River, Sansoucie said.