Wednesday will be critical in the search for two missing firefighters at sea. As crews begin their fifth day of searching, the U.S. Coast Guard says it's a race against time that is getting broader.
With no major clues found on Tuesday, the search on Wednesday will stretch north, where the current would take a stranded boat or anyone in the water.
Dozens of boaters will line up once again up at sunrise Wednesday to begin another day searching for Brian McCluney, who works for the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, and Justin Walker, a firefighter from Fairfax, Virginia. Crews will leave out of Mayport, Brunswick, and Savannah to find the two men who met years ago in the fire academy.
Vlaun said 12,600 square miles of ocean from Jacksonville north to Savannah was covered Tuesday by Coast Guard, Customs and Board Patrol and Navy aircraft and with three cutters. State and local agencies boats along with private boats and aircraft were also searching coastal waters.
This is in addition to the 46,800 square miles of ocean searched by Monday night. According to the Coast Guard, as of Tuesday evening, the search had covered 69,000 square miles, with an estimated 182 hours of searches.
"The next 24 hours are absolutely critical, and I can't put it any clearer than that," Vlaun said. "We are going to continue to throw everything we have at this until we reach a point where we know we can’t be successful.”Some of the search crews, including the Coast Guard, remained on the water and in the air overnight.
Day 5: Search intensifies, expands north, for missing firefighters
His fellow firefighters said they want to make sure they keep that mentality and do everything they can to bring home McCluney and Justin Walker, a firefighter from Fairfax, Virginia. 
