Watch: Spokane County Sheriff’s helicopter assists in rescuing stranded fishermen

Their boat ran out of gas, the trolling motor battery died and there was no cellphone service at the lake where they went fishing for the day. Their families expected them home by dusk.

The two men – one in his 70s, the other in his 80s – walked along several miles of shoreline while pulling the boat, but they eventually became too exhausted and built a campfire to cook the day’s catch, expecting to be there until sunrise.

The men were reported missing shortly before midnight Thursday and rescued about three hours later, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Their names were not released.

Whitman County Sheriff’s deputies found their truck and empty boat trailer at the launch in Rock Lake – one of five lakes searched that night. Deputies also spotted a light in the distance: the campfire.

Whitman County deputies called in a boat, and Spokane County deputies called in a helicopter to help coordinate the rescue operation from above. The helicopter crew also caught the whole thing on video and uploaded it to YouTube.