UPDATED 4:45 p.m. July 28
A family of six averted potential disaster after a fire broke out on their motor boat in the Strait of Juan de Fuca Monday afternoon.
At about 4:20 p.m. July 27, …
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Two firefighters from an East Jefferson Fire Rescue boat went aboard a 32-foot wooden trawler, the Kloshie Bay, and broke through bulwarks to reach and extinguish a fire below decks, saving two adults and four children from potential disaster. Photo by Patricia Willestoft, East Jefferson Fire Rescue
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox, an 87-foot patrol boat home-ported in Bangor, and East Jefferson Fire Rescue personnel on fire boat Guardian, responded to a fire aboard a 32-foot pleasure craft outside Point Wilson, July 27, 2015. Coast Guard photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox
Smallboat crew from the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox, an 87-foot patrol boat home-ported in Bangor, removes four children from the 32-foot pleasure craft Kloshie Bay which was reported on fire near Point Wilson, July 27, 2015. U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox
Sometimes, fires can start even surrounded by water. At 4:33 p.m. Monday, July 27, U.S. Coast Guard and East Jefferson Fire Rescue vessels responded to a distress call of a fire in the walls of a 32-foot boat (left) headed from the Strait of Juan de Fuca toward Port Townsend. The emergency vessels were able to intercept the boat just north of Point Wilson and safely extinguish the fire by 5:19 p.m. Six people were aboard, two adults and four children. The boat was towed to port by Vessel Assist. Photo by Jonathan Glover
UPDATED 4:45 p.m. July 28
A family of six averted potential disaster after a fire broke out on their motor boat in the Strait of Juan de Fuca Monday afternoon.
At about 4:20 p.m. July 27, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound in Seattle received a distress call from the master of the 32-foot pleasure craft Kloshie Bay stating there was a fire aboard their vessel. The master was simultaneously attempting to fight the fire and operate the vessel.
The watchstander issued an urgent marine information broadcast and diverted the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox who was under way nearby.
East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR) was paged for a water rescue at 4:33 p.m. EJFR Marine 16 Guardian responded with a crew of four firefighters and Brian Tracer, assistant chief.
Both response vessels met up with the trawler, Kloshie Bay, about one mile offshore of Fort Worden State Park, where the wooden boat had come to a stop, according to Bill Beezley, EJFR public information officer.
The crew of the Sea Fox, an 87-foot patrol boat home-ported in Bangor, removed the four children from the Kloshie Bay and transferred them to the crew of fire boat Guardian.
Two firefighters from Guardian boarded and began breaking through bulwarks below deck to reach the fire. They then used extinguishers to stop the fire, which was declared out at 5:19 p.m.
Vessel Assist boat Gabriel had been summoned to the scene and took Kloshie Bay under tow to the Port of Port Townsend, with Guardian and the four children following.
There was no reported fuel spill associated with the incident. Weather on scene at the time of the incident was reported as 4 mph winds and 2-foot seas.
On Tuesday morning, July 28, that boat was moored at the Port Townsend Boat Haven with no apparent exterior damage.
