Man jumps to safety after NSW boat blaze

A man has had to jump into the water for safety after his boat caught on fire on the NSW Hawkesbury River.

Emergency services were called to Brooklyn, near the Hawkesbury River Bridge on Friday just after 8am, after reports of a boat fire.

The male owner, who police say is aged in his 30s, had just launched his 6.5-metre runabout from a boat ramp into the river when a fire started in the inboard motor after he started it.

As the fire took hold, the man had to jump into the river for safety, and was rescued by a passing vessel and taken to shore.

Fire boats from the NSW Rural Fire Service extinguished the blaze, but the boat has been destroyed, causing more than $20,000 in damage.