50-foot yachts destroyed in 2-alarm fire at Edmonds Marina

From KOMO news:
31 December 2011

EDMONDS, Wash. - Two 50-foot motor yachts were destroyed in a spectacular two-alarm fire at the Edmonds Marina early Saturday morning.

Fire crews responded to the scene just before 4 a.m. and found towering flames spewing from the two boats, lighting up the early morning sky.

The fire was called in by a janitor working in a nearby business.

"Two boats moored next to each other were engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived and flames were shooting 50 feet in the air," said Leslie Hynes of Snohomish County Fire District 1.

No one was aboard the burning boats, but a man and a woman staying overnight in another boat moored at the same dock had to be rescued by firefighters, Hynes said.

She said the burning boats were moored in the first two slips of the dock, and the flames cut off the couple's access to the shore.

"They were stuck at the far end of the dock in the smoke until they were rescued by the fire department boat," Hynes said.

The man and woman were taken to Swedish-Edmonds Hospital, where they were both treated for minor smoke inhalation and released a few hours later.

Firefighters from Lynnwood and Shoreline responded to assist Fire District 1. At the peak of the fire, about 40 firefighters were on the scene.

"The docks were very icy and slippery, which was a challenge for firefighters as they worked to put out the fire," Hynes said. "They used an overhead water stream from a ladder truck and firefighting foam to smother the flames."

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to get the fire under control, but crews continued to battle hot spots for about an hour as the boats smoldered and fuel ignited. One of the boats sank as the firefighting effort continued.

Damage to both yachts and the dock is expected to total more than $600,000.

Fire investigators are working to determine how the fire started. "The boat where the fire started sank and will have to be raised. Investigators do not expect to have a cause today," Hynes said.

As firefighters were putting out hot spots, crews from the Port of Edmonds set up containment booms. The state Department of Ecology is on the scene working to control and prevent environmental damage.