Boat burning at Fernandina Marina
Last night after temperatures dropped a little I decided to take a stroll downtown to get a picture of the sunset. As I neared the marina I saw a large cloud of black smoke and then heard a loud explosion. The scene pictured at left is what I found when I arrived at the marina. The boat was about a 35-40 foot model and was completely engulfed in flames. Crowds quickly gathered, fire engines and police activated and nearby boats scrambled to get away from the flames. As far as I know, no one was injured and the owner came later to find this shocking scene. The fire department tried to use the emergency water supply at the dock, but couldn’t get water to flow. They then rigged a hose from the fire truck and eventually got pressure, but it was pretty much over by then. Even when I arrived, the flames were so strong, I’m not sure much could have been saved. Fortunately it occurred at the far south end of the dock where there aren’t many boats.
A second boat narrowly escapes flames
A second boat tied up behind the one on fire was fortunate to have someone on board that could back it away before flames spread to it because of the wind direction.
Crowds gathered at the marina in disbelief
Sunset farther down the Marina
A little further down the marina I did get a sunset picture with the more numerous boats closer together. Very fortunate that the boat that caught on fire was more isolated.
Tags: Fernandina Beach, marina, ship
The photos you took of the fire could prove to be useful in proving the cause of the fire. We appreciate that you took them and published them. Also, you comments about the emergency water availability to help extinguish the fire early were particularly interesting. All I can think about is how maybe we could have saved our little guy that died in there. I can only hope he went quickly and painlessly but I cry as I write this in pain because we loved him so much! Thank you for your blog. Sincerely, Robin Kallberg, The Islander
We are so sorry for your loss. Let me know if you need photos emailed.
Byron
This was my close friends boat, their German Shepard mix was in the salon of the boat and was unfortunately lost his life in the fire. The owners of the boat were on their way to camp lejune Mike is a Marine and Robin his wife is 5 months pregnant. This was a terrible loss for them due to faulty shore power wiring on the dock.