OAK ISLAND, N.C. -- Four volunteer fire fighters on a fishing trip died and two swam to safety after their small boat overturned more than a mile from the North Carolina coast, the Coast Guard said Thursday.

Coast Guard spokesman Mark Adams said the boaters got into trouble off Lockwood Folly Inlet near Shallotte on Wednesday. Officials said their 18-foot boat may have taken on water during heavy wave action and capsized in rough weather, leaving them adrift at nightfall.

The survivors said they had tied themselves to the craft. At about 10 p.m., fearing that they were drifting out to sea, the men tried to swim about 1 1/2 miles to Holden Beach.

Four people didn't make it to shore and the two who did were hospitalized. Three of the four victims were wearing life jackets when their bodies were found.

The dead were identified as Kevin Bell, 38; Nathan "Griff" Lyerly, 22, a Lees-McRae College senior from Mooresville; Michael "Shoop" Shope, 21, a Lees-McRae College junior from Raleigh and Archabald "Arch" McSadyen, 20, a Lees-McRae College sophomore from Raleigh were all volunteer firefighters in Banner Elk, N. C.

"I watched them during the fire drills and go out with the trucks. I watched them drive the trucks every day. I watched them when they would have the fundraisers and I saw their dedication to the community," said bussiness owner Sherry Garris.

The National Weather Service issued a small craft advisory for the area, warning of winds to 10 knots and waves of 1 to 2 feet. Water temperatures were 58 degrees.

The bodies were recovered after the Coast Guard searched with planes, helicopters and boats. A Marine Corps helicopter also searched.

Coast Guard crews planned to flip the boat over and bring it to shore.

Adams said boaters should stay with their vessel if it overturns.

"The biggest point here is to stay with the vessel as long as possible, because we found the boat before we found the persons," he said. "It's much easier to see six people on a white-hulled vessel than in the open ocean."