Man rescued by helicopter as a fire burns on Santa Rosa Island Friday

SANTA ROSA ISLAND, Calif. (KEYT) – Firefighters are responding to a fire on Santa Rosa Island and a local sport fishing captain shared that at least one person was airlifted from the island.

According to the Channel Islands National Park, fire crews are heading to the remote location on the oceanside of Santa Rosa Island near Ford Point on the southeastern portion of the island.

Local sport fishing Captain Jace Malone shared with Your News Channel that he spotted a fire on Santa Rosa Island around 9:30 this morning while he and the New Hustler were heading out with a fishing group about two miles west of Ford Point.

Captain Malone navigated the ship closer to shore when he saw orange-colored smoke and spotted a man on the island as well as the mast of a partially sunken sailboat and assorted gear floating in the waters off Santa Rosa Island.

The image below, courtesy of Captain Malone, shows the stranded man and the mast of a sailboat in the foreground.

He called the Coast Guard after the man fired a flare and eventually, a helicopter successfully airlifted the stranded sailor from the island.

The sport fishing captain shared that they returned to their fishing excursion after the Coast Guard had rescued the man and released the Hook's Landing group from assisting in the response.

This is an evolving emergency response and more information will be added to this article as it is received.