GRAND MANAN – A New Brunswick fisherman narrowly escaped from his burning lobster boat by leaping into the frigid Bay of Fundy on Monday.

Within 20 minutes, Stephen Miller was plucked from the waters off Grand Manan island by several other fishermen who saw his flare and the flames.

In an interview, Miller said that as the fire ripped through his vessel he moved to the bow to get away from the heat.

When the windows started popping, he knew it was time to jump.

Even in a neoprene survival suit, Miller’s head went underwater.

He said the ice-cold water poured down his back and he swallowed mouthfuls as he gasped for breath.

The 48-year-old fisherman said he recalled lying in the water and trying not to panic for about 15 minutes before two nearby fishermen came to his rescue.

Daniel Greenlaw and Jordan Griffin arrived in a Carolina skiff and found Miller floating a safe distance from his boat.

Aside from the initial shock of water pouring down his back, Miller said he never felt cold. He was just weak from the shock of what happened.

His boat was towed to a harbor on the island.

“The only thing left is just a little bit of the fiberglass part of it, just enough to float, I guess,” Miller said Monday by phone from his Castalia, New Brunswick, home.

He said he headed out Monday morning, planning to haul in some lobster traps. He had just set 10 and was going to set another 10, when he smelled smoke.

He said he opened the cover to the engine room and his face was blasted with smoke. He instantly remembered the survival-training course he took last year.

The first rule was to don the survival suit.

“By the time I got the suit on, the whole back of the boat was full of smoke.”

Constable Robin Churchill of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Miller was just lucky to have been wearing a survival suit.

He also said it was also lucky for Miller that Greenlaw and Griffin weren’t far away, working on salmon cages.

“At the very least, they probably saved him from a little bit of hypothermia,” he said.