During a press conference this afternoon, Captain of the Edward M. Cotter Fireboat, Michael Kick, spoke about the boat fire near Ralph Wilson Park that took place at approximately 7:45 a.m. this morning.
Kick said the fireboat arrived at the scene 10 minutes after the call was received, but by the time it arrived, the boat was almost unrecognizable due to the damage. He said it will be difficult to pinpoint what caused the fire because there is so little left of it, and that two of the most common causes of boat fires are gasoline accidents and electrical issues.
It was almost burned down to the water line," Kick said. "It wasn't recognizable as a boat. It looked like a just a floating mass that was just burning."
Kick said the fire was extinguished quickly, with the use of almost 1,000 gallons of water per minute. Shortly after being extinguished, the boat sank.
The individuals on the boat were rescued by a good Samaritan before the Fireboat arrived. Kick said he isn’t surprised and understands it is a part of boating culture.
"When you're out on the water, you're pretty much at the mercy of the water. And you know, anybody, and it's the same on land when somebody's in trouble, hopefully somebody's going to step up and do the right thing," Kick said. "When you're on the water, there's kind of an understanding that if somebody's in trouble, you're going to go and you're going to help them. So, I'm not surprised at all that that happened."
Kick stressed that water safety and emergency preparation could be a matter of life and death. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
