Former Mayor Karl Dean and a group of prominent Nashvillians were rescued by helicopter in the arctic circle region of the Norwegian Sea following a sailboat fire on Sunday.

The harrowing situation unfolded at about 4:30 a.m. local time when the group of eight was woken up because of large amounts of smoke below deck. The sailboat had a crew of four people, who instructed the Nashville group to put on their survival suits, which enabled them to float in the frigid water.

The captain made the decision to evacuate, and the group evacuated to life rafts to wait for rescue.

Two Norwegian government helicopters arrived to lift Dean, his companions and the crew up to safety. Dean said two rescue divers descended ropes and rescued each stranded sailor one by one.

"Our job really in the moment the smoke was discovered was to do what we were told," Dean said in a telephone interview. "We were very good at doing that. And we were very confident that we were going to be OK."

Dean said the rescue team was "fantastic" and worked quite fast. The entire ordeal lasted about one hour and they were in the life rafts ten minutes before the rescue helicopters arrived.

The helicopters took Dean and his friends to Longyearbyen, where they were offered medical treatment for smoke inhalation. Dean said no one in the group suffered injuries.

"We are just grateful to the crew, and the captain and the rescue people for making everything go so smoothly," Dean said.

The other members of expedition included Bert Mathews, Frank Garrison, John Deane, Breck Walker, Kevin Crumbo, Jeff Smallwood and Tim Ozgener. The trip was planned for over six months, Dean said.

Their journey began on July 9 and was planned to conclude Tuesday, Dean said by phone from Norway.

"We were going to try to sail around the Svalbard Islands, but we couldn't get all the way around it because of the ice blockage on the other side," Dean said. "But we were able to get up to over 80 degrees of latitude. The arctic circle is 66 degrees and we got up to 80. The only way to go forward there because of the ice is really to walk or have a major ice cutter."

The islands, part of Norway, are located in the Arctic Ocean

During the expedition, the group took arctic hikes and saw polar bears, walruses, seals and an arctic fox, among other wildlife, Dean said, adding that he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

"A lot of it is curiosity about seeing the world," Dean said, explaining why they chose the nontraditional vacation. "I've always wanted to see this part of the world, to experience the arctic and to have an adventure. We weren't expecting this much adventure."

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and nrau@tennessean.com. Follow on Twitter @tnnaterau.