A commercial fishing crew happened to be in the right place, at the right time, after a vessel off the coast of South Florida erupted in flames.

The 52-foot watercraft ignited off the Boca Raton shore, Wednesday morning. Dark smoke could be seen from miles away.

Commercial fisherman Paul Varian and his crew were the closest boat on the water when the fire broke out. He said it first looked like a small amount of diesel smoke, but within minutes, the entire cabin was covered in flames.

“When we got there, they had already gotten their dinghy in the water, and they were climbing into the dinghy, and one guy was trying to start it, but it wouldn’t start,” he said, “so the other two were paddling with their hands like that, trying to get the dinghy away from the boat on fire. They’re still

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