Back row from left: Scott Brosius, firefighters Jesse Gorham, Zach Schade, Lt. Brian Boulay and Adrian Navarro. Scott Brosius, Firefighters Jesse Gorham, Zach Schade, Lt. Brian Boulay, and Adrian Navarro
Front: Ellie Brosius, and her mom, Angela Brosius. Front row: Ellie Brosius and her mom, Angela Brosius. Photo courtesy of Port of Seattle

We’d like to give a special shout-out today to 10-year-old Ellie Brosius, who acted quickly when a fire broke out aboard the sailboat that she and her family live on at Shilshole Bay Marina.

Last November, Ellie was alone on the family’s Formosa 51, Ghost, when an electrical fire started in the boat’s control panel. She called 911, alerted her neighbors and texted her dad, who was on a nearby boat. The neighbor shut the power off on the boat and the fire was out by the time a Seattle Fire Department crew arrived shortly after.

On Friday, Port of Seattle and Fire Department officials honored Ellie for her bravery, awarding her with a special medal. Read the Ballard News Tribune story here.

Ellie Brosius, with brother Zak in background, fishing next to her family’s boat in October 2010.

Kudos to you, Ellie, for helping to prevent what could have been a major incident. You are the type of marina neighbor every boat owner would like to have.

Three Sheets Northwest profiled Ellie’s family a couple of years back as part of a series about liveaboards. You can read the story here.

About Deborah Bach

Deborah Bach is the editor and co-founder of Three Sheets Northwest. She is an avid sailor and longtime professional journalist. You can find Deborah aboard her Passport 40, Meridian, with her husband Marty and their cat Lily.

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