Quick response and perfectly executed team work by the U.S. Coast Guard and New England District’s Cape Cod Canal team saved the lives of a crew whose tugboat caught fire in Cape Cod waters.

The tugboat Canal Deluge called the Coast Guard in the early morning of Aug. 1 to report a fire aboard the vessel, which was located out in Buzzard’s Bay off the entrance to the New Bedford Harbor Channel.

Soon after, the Coast Guard contacted the Cape Cod Canal’s marine traffic controller asking for assistance. Brian Mulvey coordinated with the crew of the canal tugboat Manamet, who quickly dispatched to the scene.

While the Coast Guard rescued the Canal Deluge crew, the Manamet crew went to work on the fire. "The Manamet put out the fire, maintained a reflash watch and then put out the fire again after one reflash," said Roger Mathurin, the canal’s marine operations officer.

"The crew of the Canal Deluge was taken off by a Coast Guard 47-foot motor lifeboat and put aboard the tugboat Miss Yvette that also came out to help."

After the fire was extinguished, the Manamet crew also cooled down the vessel with a fire monitor (water cannon), which allowed the Canal Deluge crew to go back on board to check interior compartments. The Manamet crew provided 15 five-gallon pails of firefighting foam, and hoses to spray the foam into internal hot spots.

Fast action by the Coast Guard and the Cape Cod Canal team resulted in no injuries to the Canal Deluge crew or the responders.

Cape Cod Canal personnel have monthly safety training sessions. Their last session on July 30 consisted of fire fighting, using firefighting foam, dewatering, and firing pyrotechnics. So the training was fresh in their minds when they responded to the Canal Deluge call.

So far this year, the canal’s patrol boat crews have assisted 231 vessels in distress. The Manamet crew has responded to three requests for assistance this year.