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Westport Fire Assists In Rescue Of Two Girls After Tubing Accident

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Two children were pulled unconscious from the waters of Long Island Sound off Fairfield after a boating accident on Sunday afternoon, Fairfield fire officials said in a statement.  

Fairfield Marine Police

Fairfield Marine Police

Photo Credit: File

Both were transported to Bridgeport Hospital in critical condition, said the statement from Assistant Fire Chief Scott Bisson. The Connecticut Post reported the victims, two 13-year-old girls, were being pulled on the water in a tube by a skiff, which belonged to a yacht anchored off Jennings Beach, and slammed into the yacht.

The Fairfield Emergency Communications Center received a report of the accident at 4:30 p.m.  

A nearby boater removed the girls from the water and awaited emergency personnel, said Bisson. 

“The quick actions of the private boaters that pulled the girls from the water and called 911 directly impacted the speed and effectiveness of medical care," he said.

Fairfield fire and police responded to Jennings Beach to coordinate the rescue efforts, he said. Rescue boats from the Bridgeport Police and Fire Departments as well as the Westport Fire Department responded to assist. 

Emergency responders went to the scene, transferred the girls to rescue boats and transported them to the Fairfield Gas Docks, where Fairfield firefighters, police officers and AMR ambulance and paramedic crews were standing by, Bisson said.

Both victims were stabilized, moved to the ambulances and transported to the hospital, he said. 

Police Chief Gary MacNamara told the Post that the injuries did not appear life-threatening, but one of the girls was in critical condition Sunday evening.

Their identities and details of their injuries were not released. 

Last summer, 16 year-old Emily Fedorko of Greenwich was killed and another girl seriously injured in a similar accident, when they were hit by a boat that had been towing them on a tube on Long Island Sound off the coast of Greenwich Point.

The Fairfield Police are continuing the investigation into the accident. The last fire units cleared the scene at 5:08 p.m.

“This emergency was quickly managed due to the practiced and coordinated response from our local police and fire marine partners and support from the Port Security Grant programs that have provided emergency response vessels to local Police and Fire Departments  in the region,” Bisson said.

Read the full story here at the Connecticut Post website.

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