Multiple fire crews extinguish boat fire

A fire in a 50 ft. cabin cruiser on a rack at Latitude Marine Services south of La Conner Thursday afternoon was readily extinguished by crews from Fire District 13, with assistance from multiple area fire departments. Assistant Fire Chief Jami Jurdi arrived first to the 12:42 p.m. call, in Engine 1321 from Station 2, Snee Oosh. Fire Chief Wood Weiss came from La Conner.

Weiss reported “flames burst out from a cabin window” as his crew was suiting up. They then “began hitting the fire from the outside.” There was concern of “the high exposure risk due to the close proximity of other boats and the nature of boat fires to burn hot and explosive,” he explained.

Jurdi called La Conner’s fire department and sent a second alarm and for a tender strike team to supply water from a hydrant at the north end of McGlinn Island and Conner ways, by Pioneer Park.

An FD 13 tender and Engine 1322 arrived to run the water supply. Ben Mesman was part of a two person La Conner crew filling tenders from the fire hydrant. Tenders from Anacortes, Mount Vernon and Fire Districts 2, 5, 11 and 12 came.

Wood entered the boat’s interior to extinguish the source because despite spraying from the outside, “fire kept flaring back up,” he shared. Interior visibility was poor but staff “found the seat of the fire and extinguished it.”

By the time Weekly News staff arrived an hour later, in response to resident Sybil Jenson's phone call, departments were leaving the scene.

Jenson paused her reading several times as trucks from fire departments made their way down McGlinn Island Lane to the marina.

No one was on board the boat. The people milling around were from the sailboat on stands just west of it. Someone from that boat called 911, Jurdi thought.

The Skagit County fire marshal will investigate if the property is in La Conner or under County jurisdiction, Jurdi said.