The exact cause of a two-alarm blaze that damaged at least four luxury boats in Coal Harbour — while not suspicious — is still unclear, fire officials said yesterday afternoon.
“We’re not really sure how it started,” said Vancouver Fire Battalion Chief Howard Brown.
“It extended quickly to two other boats and damaged a fourth.”
The boat where the fire started has been put on dry-dock and fire investigators hope to get a better idea of what caused the blaze within the next day, Vancouver fire Capt. Gabe Roder said.
A huge plume of thick, black smoke could be seen hovering over downtown Vancouver as some 40 firefighters worked quickly to put out the fire at around 9 a.m yesterday.
The boats, made out of fibreglass, produce acrid, carcinogenic smoke when on fire, Brown said.
The boats were docked at Bayshore West Marina’s 40-foot slips. Joe Johnston, a yacht broker with M&P Mercury Sales, identified two of the boats as Sea Rays, which are worth about $700,000 apiece.
Brown credited fire crews for acting quickly to contain the blaze before it spread further.
“It was a tough fire. It’s a boat-based fire and we’re fighting from land,” he said.
No injuries were reported.
Crews remained on scene late into the morning to clean up spot fires and attend to the still-smoking remains of the gutted boats.
