Small boat fire snuffed by boat crews nearby

Even the smallest of fires have the potential to stir up some trouble.

A La Conner Maritime Service crew member noticed smoke coming from a sailboat at the end of J-dock in the La Conner Marina about 12:10 p.m. last Wednesday, March 2. He alerted Project Manager Joe Franett via radio to call the marina and 911.

As other crew members alerted each other of flames coming from the boat’s aft cabin, Franett grabbed a fire extinguisher and launched a skiff with two other staff. They arrived on scene the same time as Munson Boats employees.

According to Franett, a Munson crew member began spraying water and removing fuel containers that he spotted on board. Both teams emptied two fire extinguishers while putting out the flames.

“We had it snuffed out in about five minutes,” Franett said, “Any longer and it could have spelled trouble.”

Fire District 13 and La Conner Fire Department responded to the 911 call at 12:15 p.m. and arrived on scene with Fire District 2 about 10 minutes later.

Despite the flames being extinguished before they got to the marina, firefighters took extra precautions by running cans of water down to the boat, Fire District 13 Chief Wood Weiss said.