Two 50-foot boats were destroyed in a two-alarm fire at the Edmonds Marina P Dock early this morning.
One boat, the Great Scape, was towed away. The other, Sea for Two, sank. It was later lifted out of the water by floatation devices.
Watch a report by KOMO 4 news and another from King 5.
The fire was reported by a janitor just before 4 a.m. "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, public information officer for Snohomish County Fire District 1, which provides fire and emergency medical services in Edmonds.
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.
"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," Hynes said. "They were stuck at the far end of the dock in the smoke. A fire rescue boat brought them to shore."
The couple were treated by medics for minor smoke inhalation and released from Swedish/Edmonds Hospital 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.
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. “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.
