Good Samaritans rescue boaters after fiery explosion in Santa Cruz

It was just another day on the water for Scott Sanborn and Mike Hultin – two friends enjoying the sunshine and hoping for a big catch. But then, the unexpected occurred.

“We felt a big boom! You know, we were about100 feet away. You felt the blast come through your back,” said Sanborn.

Two California Fish and Wildlife wardens suffered second degree burns after their boat exploded Saturday morning near Four-Mile Beach in Santa Cruz. Sanborn and Hultin were fishing nearby and wentto the rescue.

“You hear somebody screaming and immediately we got to go help. We’re in that much proximity, we got to go do something,” said Hultin.

It took both Sanborn and Hultin to lift one of the wardens out of the water. As sworn officers, the wardensare armed andin full body armor.Meanwhile, the other warden was left clinging to a nearby boat.

“My buddy started grabbing him and having difficulties so I’m helping pull his legs and everything else. It took two of us to get him out of the water and on the boat,” said Hultin.

Sanborn is a trained paramedic. He helped calm the wardens and then signaled to the United States Coast Guard for aid.

“It’s something you never expect to happen, to have just a boat blow up spontaneously out of nowhere right next to you,” said Sanborn

The wardens were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The Coast Guard is still investigating what caused the boat to explode.