by Deborah Bach
Fire destroys three boats, causing $2 million in damage
Dec 8 2009 in Currents by Deborah Bach
A fire early Tuesday morning destroyed three powerboats at Sundance Yacht Sales in Seattle, causing $2 million in damage and sending two firefighters and a police officer into the frigid waters of Lake Union.
Firefighters were called to the brokerage at 1848 Westlake Ave. N. on Lake Union at 3:20 a.m. Arriving on the scene, they found a 39-foot boat ablaze, with other boats nearby and in danger of catching fire. Close to 100 firefighters responded, with assistance from the Seattle Police Harbor Patrol.
Crews cut several boats loose from their slips to move them away from the fire, and got the blaze under control within about half an hour. But the cold temperatures created hazardous conditions, causing water from fire hoses to freeze when it hit the ground. Two firefighters fell into the lake, and a police officer jumped in to help. All three got out of the water quickly and were not injured. One firefighter suffered a minor injury and was taken to nearby Harborview Medical Center.
An electrical problem apparently started the blaze aboard this boat.
Fire department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said the blaze was caused by an electrical failure and is considered accidental. Russ Reed, a yacht salesman at Sundance, said the fire started on a 39-foot, Chinese-built Island Gypsy trawler about three years old and appears to have been caused by faulty wiring on the 110-volt power supply to the boat. The fire spread to two other boats, which Reed said were a new 48-foot Californian fast trawler and a 57-foot Symbol about 10 years old. No one was onboard any of the boats when the fire broke out.
“The three boats were totaled,” Reed said. “But no one got hurt, which is the most important thing.”
A weary-sounding Reed spent much of Tuesday talking with fire investigators, insurance company representatives and the media. “I make my living selling boats, not by doing interviews, conducting surveys and going over everything I’d had to go over today,” he said.
“In my 26 years of doing this, this is the first (yacht fire). Maybe I’ll make it the rest of my career without having to deal with this ever again.”
One of the badly damaged boats from the early morning fire. A quick response by firefighters prevented more damage in the tightly packed Lake Union marina.
We nearly had a fire on our boat several years ago. As we were leaving the boat, my wife smelled smoke. It was coming from the electrical panel and was caused by loose terminals on the 120 VAC breaker. It’s a good idea to tug on those connections to check for tightness whenever the panel is opened. As the breaker gets used, it gets hot and the terminals loosen. Same goes for the shore power inlet.
Thanks Steve. Good advice. I took the pictures yesterday for the story, and nothing is quite so sickening as the smell of burned fiberglass. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else this year.