Three people were rescued Friday morning from a shrimp boat that caught fire off the east end of Galveston, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Although a Coast Guard helicopter was prepared to perform the rescue, another boater arrived first and safely evacuated the three shrimp boat occupants, said Petty Officer Andy Kendrick.

The call came in about 10 a.m., and the burning 55-foot boat, about a half-mile off the Galveston jetties at the east end of the island, was also visible to the Coast Guard's vessel traffic service, Kendrick said.

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