Two Boats Burn at Marina Village Yacht Harbor, Alameda
Two docked boats caught fire at Marina Village Yacht Harbor in Alameda early this morning, leaving one boat sunk and the other badly damaged. Alameda Fire Department (AFD) responded to a call at approximately 3:30 a.m. to find the two boats alight and threatening nearby vessels.
According to AFD‘s social media channel, one person had been aboard one of the vessels but was able to escape uninjured.
Sixteen firefighters were involved in the operation, with shore crews running hoses approximately 400 feet to reach the boats, and AFD Fire Boat 1 assisting from the water. The crews were able to contain the fires and prevent damage to nearby boats.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Meanwhile AFD, USCG, and Oakland Fire Department have coordinated to deploy a floating boom to contain fluids and debris.
The following video of the incident was shared on AFD’s Instagram account.
View this post on Instagram
Anyone know what dock and slip numbers affected?
According to Marina Village, the fire was on J dock and Gate 9 is currently closed.
The sinker was a Bertram 28 and the neighboring boat was a Catalina 36
What started this fire? This needs to be investigated and explained so boaters/liveaboards can be aware of possible hazards.
I am a retired firefighter. Why were these firefighters not wearing SCBA’s ? That boat smoke is as bad or worse than what comes from a car fire. I would have had my crew wearing them.
A few years ago a Hunter 29.5 caught fire at the Oakland Yacht Club, next door. The fire appeared to start behind the distribution panel. A space heater was being used at the time. The suspected cause was corrosion at the wire terminals for the AC breaker leading to high enough localized temperature to start the fire. Those situations of resistance heating don’t cause a significant increase in current to blow the circuit breaker. If it wasn’t for a small dog on board alerting the sleeping occupants, we might have lost our friends. It didn’t take long after they evacuated safely for the boat to be filled with thick smoke. Even though it didn’t sink, the insurance company declared it a total loss.
Nick Bamont, the fellow whose Catalina 36 was destroyed was a member of Island Yacht Club, so the club has started a GoFundMe campaign to help his recovery from this total loss of his home and its contents. According to an email from IYC, “Donations will help cover the costs of clothing and other personal necessities, relocation costs, medical expenses, and rent while Nick looks for a new boat/home.” See https://www.gofundme.com/f/ey2bay-help-rebuild-our-friends-life-after-fire for details.