A daring and dangerous rescue took place at Barnegat Inlet when two fishermen got stranded at high tide. The Barnegat Light First Aid, volunteer fire company, beach patrol and Coast Guard worked together to rescue the two men.

Barnegat Light First Aid member Bob Selfridge gave the signal to his partner Hugh Shields that it was time to jump into action. Two men fishing became trapped on the tower at the far end of the rocks. The safest way to get them off would come from the air.

“The guys were actually stuck up in the tower. By this time there were actually eight-foot waves rolling right across the jetty,” said Bob Selfridge, acting captain of the Barnegat Light Beach Patrol, and a member of the first aid and fire departments.

Shields jumped off the Jet Ski, fought swells, climbed up the rocks and tower to hand the two men life jackets and harnesses, as the Coast Guard helicopter arrived.

“The platform is only 4 x 4 foot, so it’s a very small target, so coming from a helicopter hoisting down you’re swinging back and forth and it’s very unstable,” said Shields, a water rescue technician with the Barnegat Light First Aid Squad.

“I was down on the beach coordinating with the helicopter, the small boat and the fire company Jet Skis,’ said Nicholas Elliot, a BM1 with the United States Coast Guard.

When the tide came in, it covered up the sandbar about a mile offshore, allowing 8-foot swells to break where the two men were trapped right at the end of the jetty.

“The conditions really did change rapidly. I saw a lot of stuff on Facebook talking about how could they be so stupid, the conditions at low tide were not the conditions at high tide,” added Selfridge.

Both men arrived on dry ground, unhurt, as did all the rescuers.

“It just shows you really need to be paying attention to the weather, the tides, and being aware of your surroundings knowing when it’s time to turn around and pack it in,” said Elliot.

“I feel a sense of pride in it. I feel like I just did my job and you know, got the job done,” added Shields.