A boat being stored for the winter at a marina in Gloucester, Massachusetts, caught on fire Saturday, the fire department said.
The Gloucester Fire Department responded around 12:15 p.m. to the Pier 7 Marina, located at 6 Cripple Cove Lane, after receiving a report of a boat fire.
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Responding firefighters found a 32-foot houseboat-style vessel with a heavy fire on the rear deck area. The boat was in dry storage, in close proximity to other boats, and the owner was attempting to extinguish the flames with a garden hose.
Fire crews were able to quickly extinguish the flames and then secured the batteries in a below deck compartment. They proceeded to flood the below deck area with foam to ensure the fire was extinguished and to suppress potential gasoline vapors in the bilge.
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They also foamed the surrounding area to ensure vapor suppression and made a hole in the stern to allow the water used by firefighters to escape, lessening the weight on the storage jacks.
"This was great work by our firefighters who arrived on scene quickly and knocked down the flames immediately," Chief Eric Smith said in a media release. "Their actions kept this fire from extending to additional vessels in extremely close proximity."
According to the fire department, one boat stored nearby did sustain significant damage to its gel coat due to the radiant heat.
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The fire department determined the blaze was accidental. The boat owner was pumping contaminated gasoline from the tank when a 12-volt fuel pump arced and ignited fuel in the area.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
