A firefighter drowns after jumping into the sea to save his daughter

The day started with a swim in the cool Atlantic waters off the New Jersey coast near Avon-by-the-Sea.

Mark Batista, a father of three and an experienced member of the New York Fire Department, was taking his family to the beach on Friday morning when the salty sea air dipped just below 70 degrees. Soon after, his daughter made a straight line to the waves, splashing as she waded deeper into the dark blue.

Suddenly there was a deadly electric shock. The narrow, fast-flowing stream swept her farther and farther from shore.

Mr Batista rushed in to rescue her, friends and authorities said. But the ocean, in all its cruelty, pulled him down.

According to Jim Long, a spokesperson for the fire service, Mr. Batista, 39, a long-time firefighter and emergency medical technician, drowned.

He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. His daughter, whose name and age have not been released, survived.

Their relationship was described in a social media post a few months before Mr. Batista’s death. “I can’t promise I’ll be here for the rest of your life,” he wrote on Instagram in October with a photo of his smiling daughter, her arms wrapped around his neck. “But what I can promise is that I will love you for the rest of me.”

Mr. Batista’s drowning was the second this year along New Jersey’s nearly 130 miles of coastline, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service. The other victim was a 15-year-old boy who died over Memorial Day weekend at Sandy Hook Beach. He was also pulled out to sea by a Gulf Stream.

In both cases, no lifeguards were present at the scene where the drownings occurred, according to records and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.

The lifeguards of Avon-by-the-Sea will go to work full-time from Saturday, according to the council website. On Friday, after Mr. Batista’s death, the sheriff’s office released a statement on Facebook warning “all to please do not enter the water if no lifeguards are present.”

Mr. Batista first joined the New York Fire Department Emergency Medical Services in 2008. He spent about five years as an emergency medical technician before becoming a firefighter, Mr. Long said. He was last assigned to Engine Company 226 in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

“We are heartbroken to hear of the death of firefighter Mark Batista,” Mr Long said in a statement.

“Fireman Batista was a dedicated officer who served in the FDNY for 15 years,” he added. “We join his family in mourning his tragic passing.”

Mr. Batista’s body was transferred Sunday from the Middlesex County Medical Examiner to the Vander Plaat Colonial Home in Fair Lawn, NJ, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times that was sent to firefighters and emergency responders.

Mr. Batista’s wife, Lenin Batista, posted a message on Instagram to friends and family. “I feel lost, heartbroken and very scared,” she wrote in Spanish.

On Sunday morning, Janelle Rivera, a seasoned deputy mechanic and old friend of Mr. Batista, had not yet heard of his drowning, she later said.

As she sat down to drink her coffee, she took out her phone and saw that she had dozens of unread messages. She opened one and saw a picture of Mr. Batista along with a picture of a purple and black striped flag. They were the colors of the mourning garland, a pleated fabric sheet that hangs over a fire station to signify the death of a member.

Mrs. Rivera was stunned.

She thought of how she’d met Mr. Batista when he worked at 45 EMS Station in Queens. She remembered the near-fatal motorcycle accident Mr. Batista was involved in just a few years ago, the accident that made him rethink how he spent his time in the world. She thought of how he often took his family to the seaside because his daughter loved the ocean.

Ms. Rivera also recalled running into Mr. Batista at the Brooklyn Fire Department headquarters about a month ago. He drove his prized white Porsche.

On that day, Mr. Batista spoke of his wife as he always did. “Every second of every day, he made sure his wife knew how much he cherished and appreciated her. And that meant so much to me, knowing that someone like that exists in the world,” Ms. Rivera said. “Anytime I was having a bad day, I could just look at him to give me hope that it’s possible to be loved that way.”

“That his wife had to watch him go into the water and not come out again makes me sick to death,” she added. “His daughter’s life is the result of his heroism, which is all a wife and mother could ever wish for.”