Benicia Fire Department helped the U.S. Coast Guard rescue six San Jose residents who had been boating and fishing off Dillon Point in the Benicia State Recreation Area on Sunday, Division Chief K.C. Smith said in a news release.

Coast Guard staff called the fire department, which sent units at about 6:45 p.m. to respond to the report of people in the water off the popular fishing site.

On the way there, firefighters learned that three people were confirmed in the water, and that three others were in a rubber raft that was taking on water, Smith said.

Units from both Benicia Fire Department and Benicia police went to the shoreline of Southampton Bay to search for the victims and see how they could help the Coast Guard, Smith said.

“Our resources on the shore coordinated with resources from Coast Guard Station Mare Island as they arrived in the area and located the victims,” he said.

“Once all six individuals were pulled onto the Coast Guard vessel, they were transported to the boat ramp at West Ninth Street, where Benicia firefighters and paramedics were standing by.”

He said the group, five adults and one infant, had put the rubber raft and a kayak in the water off Dillon Point for an afternoon of fishing.

They were wearing life jackets, but hadn’t anticipated the strength of the weather, he said.

“No one in the party was prepared for the afternoon winds, combined with the strong current and wave chop encountered in the waters off Benicia,” Smith said.

The two watercraft were buffeted, the kayak overturned and the small raft began taking on water, he said.

The adults, who had a cell phone, called 9-1-1 for help, Smith said.

“Although cold from exposure to the water, no one was injured from the event or transported to the hospital,” he said. “The family, along with friends, were headed home to San Jose, safe and thankful to be on dry land.”