Crews came to the rescue of a group of people who were caught in a rip current during a late night swim off South Beach. Only in Dade shared video on social media of the moments when a nighttime swim turned into a rescue mission. Miami Beach Fire Rescue and Miami Beach Ocean Rescue pulled five people from the ocean near Eighth Street, at around 7:40 p.m. on Saturday, as a large crowd that had gathered clapped and cheered. Sunday afternoon, Lucas Bocanegra, operations supervisor for Miami Beach Ocean Rescue, said the first problem was the windy weather. “I highly recommend, if you see ever the red and yellow flag, please don’t enter the water. The water is not safe,” he said. “There’s really strong rip currents, especially on a day like today, when the wind’s over 20 miles an hour. There is a good chance you’re going to get caught in a rip current.” The second problem, Bocanegra said, was the lack of on-duty lifeguards. “Once we shut the towers at 6:30 — you can see the flaps and the towers close and the flags put away — just don’t enter the water,” he said. “It’s just not safe, because you might not have somebody to get there in time to help you out.” This group was lucky that, with so many people needing help, everyone was checked out by fire rescue crews, and no one needed a trip to the hospital. Bocanegra advises swimmers who find themselves caught in a rip current not to panic and attempt to swim straight to shore. “You gotta swim sideways, you gotta swim parallel to shore,” he said. “Don’t fight that current, go with the current.” Miami Beach’s website provides beach conditions that people can access before going into the water. ...read more read less