Dog Rescued From Burning House, EMS Save a Life, and Other Good News in 2013

Not all news is bad news. During 2013, there was plenty of good news to go around.

Who will ever forget when John Aldridge, a lobster fisherman, was found 12 hours after he fell overboard in July? Earlier this month, another fisherman was also extremely lucky when he was discovered overboard just before dark. Many lives were saved. 

As the year comes to a close, let's take a look back at some of the top heart-warming stories of the year. 

Coast Guard Video Shows Part of Montauk Fisherman's 'Amazing' Rescue

A Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter rescue crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod recorded the awe-inspiring rescue of John Aldridge, a lobster fishermen who went overboard while on night watch off of Montauk Point on July 25. He was rescued after 12 hours of keeping himself afloat.

Coast Guard Rescues Fisherman Found Floating Off Montauk Point

Thanks to a birdwatcher who spotted a man floating in the sea on Dec. 8, a fisherman was rescued from frigid waters after his boat capsized about six miles off Montauk Point.

Chief Rescues Dog from Burning Amagansett Home

Flames were shooting through the roof of an Amagansett house when the first firefighters arrived on a Sunday afternoon in July, and thanks to a quick search, a chief rescued the only occupant: An old Golden Retriever named Cooper cowering in the corner of the home. 

Montauk EMS Saves Heart Attack Victim

Stephen "Skip" Rankin is well aware just how lucky he is to be alive. From his hospital bed at Stony Brook University Hospital on July 19, Rankin got choked up as he recalled how he nearly died just days earlier. After experiencing chest pain aboard a friend's boat, he went into cardiac arrest in the back of a Montauk ambulance and was resuscitated.

Rescuer Lauded For Saving Drunk Woman Who Drowned Husband's Porsche 

On April 21, Katie Osiecki, a 21-year-old ocean lifeguard rescued a woman whom police said deliberately drove her husband's Porsche into Napeague Harbor while inebriated. Osiecki and her boyfriend John Glennon were returning from the movies to their home on Lazy Point in Amagansett at about 10 p.m. when they heard a cry for help. The woman was struggling, having been carried by the current to just outside the channel on the northside of Lazy Point.

Swimmer Nearly Drowns at Main Beach

A 30-year-old man from Long Beach was revived after nearly drowning off Main Beach in June. East Hampton Village police officers and a bystander, who is a physician, initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation until emergency medical service personnel arrived.

Woman Rescued from Sinking Boat in Springs

Springs firefighters saved a woman off a house boat that was sinking into the icy waters of Three Mile Harbor in the early morning hours on Feb. 11 just after a snow storm. After firefighters were called to Gardiner's Marina at 4:11 a.m., Chief Ben Miller said they found a woman standing barefoot on the boat's snowy deck. "It was going down real fast," he said of the boat, which estimated between 30 to 35-feet.

Local Cops Rock 'Movember' Staches

Perhaps you noticed East Hampton police officers growing a little more facial hair than usual in November.

Well, there was a purpose behind what may have looked like a throw back to the 1970s. All jokes aside, town and village police officers grew moustaches as part of an international campaign to raise awareness of men's health issues.