METAIRIE, La. — Four people were rescued from Lake Pontchartrain Saturday after their boat overturned. The Jefferson Parish Fire Department is praising a family of bystanders who aided in the rescue.
Saturday afternoon, JPFD got a call that a boat had capsized on Lake Pontchartrain about a mile and a half from shore. Firefighters, EMS workers, and deputies gathered at the Bonnabel Boat Launch in Metairie.
At the same time, a family was on their way to the launch with a brand-new toy in tow.
“I just picked up this boat Friday before last,” said owner Larry Albaral, “came out to sea trial the boat with my son, my grandson, [and] my grandson’s friend. Just ride around and enjoy the lake.”
When the Albarals got close, they could tell something was off. “We saw a fire truck come flying past us and we were like, ‘Why is it going to the boat launch?’” said his grandson Cade Albaral.
Once they parked, a firefighter approached them and asked if they could bring his crew to the capsized boat to rescue the four people.
Their first thought? “Holy crap,” said the younger Albaral.
Assistant Fire Chief Mike Travis told WWL Louisiana he has never seen a crew commandeer on a civilian boat. He commended the lieutenant who made the decision to do so. “We have boats but it would have taken us a while to get here, Coast Guard has boats, it would have taken them a while to react,” he said.
Three firefighters got into the boat and the entire crew– Larry Albaral, his son, the three children, and the rescuers– pushed off from the boat launch. Within minutes, they found the stranded boat near the Causeway. All four people were clinging to it.
“They were elated to see us, let’s just put it that way,” said Larry Albaral. The firefighters pulled the four people onto the boat and everyone went back to shore. None of the passengers on the capsized boat were hurt.
“When they came up to the boat launch we spoke to them, asked them what happened,” said Chief Travis, “they're really unsure what happened.” The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is investigating the incident as a boating accident.
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