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Decatur County Fire and Rescue was dispatched to a boater in distress on Friday morning, after the boater called 911 and said his boat was taking on water.

Public information officer, Van Eakin said the boater was in the river near Jinx Landing when a choppy wave overtook his boat.

Due to Thursday’s high winds and weather, the waters on the river have been choppy and the boat was unfortunately no match for the waves. They overlapped the boat and the amount of water began to weigh it down, causing it to sink.

The boater called 911 at approximately 8:30 a.m. to alert them of his situation. Eakin said 911 was able to ping the boater’s location and provide DCFR with a general location.

However, Eakin spoke to the boater directly and realized he was just near Jinx Landing from the landmarks.

DCFR officer, Johnny Precila arrived on scene within the hour and found the boater had already been saved by local fishermen passing by, who saw the situation. They then checked the boater for any injuries before heading out on the water to assess the boat.

Finding no injuries, DCFR took the boater back to safety at Jack Wingates and thanked the fishermen for helping out in the time of need.