Around 1:00 A.M. on Wednesday, a 44-year-old man and a woman (--whose age hasn't been released) were boating in the San Francisco Bay. And if that sounds fairly dangerous and stupid . . . it was. Their engine went out and the man fell overboard into the FRIGID water as he tried to restart it. That made the boat capsize, and the woman fell into the water as well. The current carried them toward the shore of San Quentin State Prison. A guard in the tower heard them yelling for help and spotted them in the water. So he placed a call to the San Quentin Prison fire department. Which is a volunteer fire department made up entirely of . . . INMATES. The inmate firefighters rushed out and were actually able to pull the man and woman out of the water. Sadly, the man ended up dying at the hospital later from hypothermia. The woman was treated and survived. She was wearing a life jacket when the boat went down, and the guy wasn't. The police are investigating and believe the man and woman were drunk at the time. As for San Quentin's firefighters, most of them were NOT firefighters when they were sentenced, and got all of their training in prison. They get to live in a firehouse, not in normal cells, and they're on call 24 hours a day. Violent offenders and sex offenders aren't allowed to serve on the staff.
(San Francisco Chronicle)
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