39 people rescued from stranded duck boat in Lake Austin

AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - The Austin Fire Department rescued 39 people after a duck boat with Austin Duck Adventures became stranded in Lake Austin. 

According to firefighters, AFD was dispatched to Walsh Landing to assist a stranded duck boat on Lake Austin. A ski boat also assisted towing the boat to shore.

There were no injuries and fire fighters assisted 39 people off the boat.

A vehicle wrecker towed the duck boat from landing. 

According to their website, Austin Duck Adventures offers an amphibious tour that includes tours of downtown Austin and beautiful Lake Austin in an Unsinkable, US coast guard inspected, Hydra Terra vehicles. Austin Duck Adventures' scenic tour is around 75 minutes long. 

“These tour vehicles, they do a lot of trips in the summertime, and, sometimes, maintenance issues occur. This time a maintenance issue occurred out on the lake while we had a full boat of people,” said William Duncan, boat captain for Austin Duck Adventures.  

Tourists waited on the water for about 50 minutes in the middle of the day. 

“They were all calm and it started out kind of funny, just like anything else, you get about 30 minutes into it and we're like, ‘Hey man, it's hot,’” Duncan said. 

Austin Duck Adventures said it was engine trouble that left the boat stranded in Lake Austin.