Flare Sighting Near 30th West
As we were cleaning up after an earlier call, Oak Island Water Rescue, Oak Island Fire Department, and Oak Island Police Department were dispatched to a home in the 3000 block of West Beach Drive for a report of a flare from a boat being seen by several people. We responded with a 4-man crew in truck 4482 with our night vision and FLiR equipment. En-route, we contacted Jacksonville (FL) Air Route Traffic Control Center and were advised there was very likely military activity in the area because the airspace offshore was closed. This type of activity commonly involves flares launched from aircraft that can be seen from Oak Island, and are often thought to be launched from a boat because they appear low on the horizon. We were also in communication with the United States Coast Guard. Once on-scene, we monitored what appeared to be a shrimping boat about a mile off-shore that did not look to be in distress and had working electrical power, likely indicating that if there was a problem they would have radioed for help. We watched the boat for about 15 minutes to see if there was any other signs of distress. There were none and we turned any further investigation over to the Coast Guard.
