Crews Search for 3 Who Fled Burning Boat
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SAN FRANCISCO — The Coast Guard and Solano County Sheriff’s Department searched in vain Tuesday for three missing boaters who jumped from their burning vessel.
A fisherman rescued five people from the water about 2 a.m. after he saw that their 29-foot boat, the Robby Lin, was on fire.
He then notified the Coast Guard, which continued to search along with the Sheriff’s Department until Tuesday evening.
Still missing were Wilburn and Barbara Thompson of Turlock, Calif., 54 and 56, respectively, and Keith Washington, 15, of Colcord, Okla., who was vacationing in California with five friends.
Those rescued were all from Colcord: John Blakfox, 18; James Mitchell, 16; Cecil Sixkiller, 16; James Payton, 17; and Payton’s father, Elmer Payton, 57, said sheriff’s spokesman Gary Faulkner.
The elder Payton was listed in fair condition with burns at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. The teenagers were treated at North Bay Medical Center in Fairfield for minor injuries and released into the custody of Solano County Child Protective Services.
The Sheriff’s Department was investigating the cause of the fire.
The department’s search was scheduled to resume today, although the Coast Guard called off its search.
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