There was smoke on the water at Lynnwood Marina, Monday evening.
At around 6:20 p.m., a call came into District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services reporting a burning boat. At the time, a plume of dark smoke could be seen rising from beneath the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing.
The heavy black smoke was from the fuel and fibreglass of the recreational boat that was on fire, said Assistant Fire Chief Dennis Cappellini.
When crews arrived at the North Vancouver marina, they found the1988 Sea Ray engulfed in flames, he said. The shed it was docked in was also catching fire.
Firefighters started getting their main attack lines on the flames, and also used special tools called piercing nozzles, Cappellini said.
“It’s like a manual [lawn] sprinkler. You pound it in and connect the hose and it starts spraying water,” he said.
Piercing nozzles were stuck into sections of the dock that had become hot from the fire, he said. Firefighters were also able to carefully approach the blazing boat, and stick the nozzles to the craft itself.
A Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue boat, which docks in the marina, assisted in the fight. Two DNV firefighters got on the vessel and attacked the fire from the water.
Cappellini said it was fortunate the neighbouring boat sheds were empty as the heat from the fire easily passed through the thin aluminum walls of the burning shed.
After about an hour, the fire was completely out, and coast guard was notified to help salvage the remains of the burnt pleasurecraft.
Boats have fuel, electrical, and things can go wrong, assistant chief says
There’s not enough information at this point to say what caused the fire, Cappellini said.
“We don’t know if this was an electrical, if it was fuel,” he said. “Boats, just like homes, they have fuel in them, they have electrical, and things can go wrong.
“It may have not even been the boat. It could have been something in the shed,” Cappellini said.
After the boat was doused, onlookers may have noticed some of the firefighters getting a soaking themselves in the marina parking lot.
While the fire crews’ smiling faces might have betrayed a bit of fun, the soak down is part of decontaminating their gear, which becomes laced with the toxic byproducts of combustion, Cappellini explained.
“We do a hose down, we bag it. We don’t bring those contaminants into the firetrucks,” he said.
When they return to the firehall, the bags are dumped into industrial washing machines and put on the “smoky” cycle.
[email protected]
twitter.com/nick_laba
@nicklaba.bsky.social
Want to stay updated on North Vancouver and West Vancouver news? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
