Seven people can count their lucky stars that Capt. Jack Schachner was there to save the day when their boat erupted in flames in Queens Saturday evening.
It was an ordinary day for Tow Boat U.S. Capt. Schachner. He was responding to a routine call – a boat in need of a tow – when flames began leaping out of the stranded vessel's engine compartment.
Schachner got all seven people, none of whom could swim, on board his towboat just as their 26-foot cruiser engulfed in flames. It all happened in a matter of seconds.
Had it not been for Schachner's quick response and quick thinking, there would have been a catastrophe on the water.
The captain towed the burning vessel to a nearby dock, where New York City firefighters doused the flames. The boat sank in the East Mill Basin Channel, which is east of Jamaica Bay, as seven people thanked Schachner for saving their lives.
No one was injured.
