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2 men rescued from burning boat on Tampa Bay

Efforts are ongoing to remove the boat from the water.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Coast Guard and area response crews helped extinguish a large fire on a boat Monday morning on Tampa Bay.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received a call around 10 a.m. about a vessel fire near Pinellas Point, located south of the downtown area.

After the Coast Guard, St. Petersburg Fire Department and Eckerd College Search and Rescue responded and assisted in putting out the fire, a commercial salvage company removed two men from the boat without injury, according to a news release.

"Once on scene, we got together with our partner agencies to extinguish the fire and help establish a safety zone to keep other vessel traffic out of harm's way," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Aaron Klipin, the coxswain for Station St. Petersburg, said in a statement. "We also monitored the fire due to the potential for impacting the environment."

The boat's owner was reportedly coordinating with salvage for removal operations.

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