(First texted photo – thanks)
12:02 PM: Thanks for the tips and photos. SFD and the Coast Guard are responding to a boat fire visible from Alki. They’re also mobilizing on shore in case there are patients to be brought to shore – right now the mobilization point is Seacrest. There’s word that one person is in the water “being picked up by a bypassing boat.” Updates to come.
12:08 PM: The closer view above this line is from Curry Gibson, who confirms that the boat (the one on the left) picked up a person in the water. And according to SFD radio, everyone is off the boat, which as the photos show is fully engulfed in flames.
12:14 PM: The view above this line is from Rick Cocker. SFD radio says the fire was reportedly preceded by some kind of “explosion” on the boat. (Added – video from another person onshore:)
12:19 PM: No fireboat on site yet, people who can see the boat are reporting, and emergency radio confirms that the nearest fireboat is still about 10 minutes away. SFD confirms one person was rescued by a “civilian vessel” and they say the person is OK but “refusing treatment” so the land response will demobilize.
12:37 PM: A fireboat (Chief Seattle) has finally arrived on scene (texted photo above).
12:50 PM: SFD told dispatch they’re still using Seacrest to shuttle some extra personnel out to the fireboat. Meantime, the texter – David – who sent the photo above says “fire’s out” and just sent this:
1:03 PM: Part of what they’re doing now, and the reason they’re sending out more personnel, is “dewatering” what’s left of the burned boat.
1:23 PM: Now they’re discussing towing what remains of the boat to “beach it at Duwamish Head” and figure out what else to do from there.
2:30 PM: Thanks to James Tilley for the photos above and below this paragraph. We just talked by phone with SFD spokesperson Kaila Lafferty. Here’s what we learned: The boat instead has been towed to Fourmile Rock on the north side of the bay – the Coast Guard decided to change the location. The person who escaped by jumping into the water, then getting picked up by another private vessel, was the only one on board and indeed was not hurt. (Added – Stephen King‘s photo, first uploaded in a comment, shows that person escaping.)
As for why a fire boat did not arrive sooner – Lafferty says they do indeed have one stationed on the waterfront downtown, but they were not in active patrol mode today and it took a while to mobilize. The first one on scene was Fireboat 3, based near Ballard. They don’t yet know the cause; the fire wasn’t fully out, because it was burning below deck, and firefighters could not safely board the boat. The first word of the fire came in from 911 callers who saw it, not from the person on board, so SFD says they really appreciate hearing from those people, and they also want to remind people on boats to keep communication devices and personal flotation equipment handy too, and to always have a fire extinguisher on board (there’s no word whether this person did or did not, it’s just a reminder). No word if the fire has led to any water pollution, but the crews that responded did have equipment to deal with that if it was needed.
11:47 PM: Update from the Coast Guard: “While under tow by the commercial salvage company, the vessel sunk near the 32nd Ave Beach Access in Elliott Bay. Boom has been placed around the vessel and divers have been contracted to remove remaining fuel while a salvage plan is promulgated. There is approximately 250 gallons of diesel fuel onboard.”
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