Newport Beach : Blaze Forces Laguna Man to Abandon Boat
Fire forced a lone Laguna Beach sailor to abandon ship about 13 miles off Newport Beach, U.S. Coast Guard officials said Sunday.
The sailor, identified as John G. Wilber, was rescued by another boat responding to the fiery craft. But the 25-foot fiberglass sailboat burned to the water line and sank, Petty Officer Tom Honke said. Wilber was not injured.
Honke said the fire started while Wilber was transferring fuel from a container on the boat into an auxiliary engine shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday. “It ignited somehow; we don’t know the details yet,” he said.
Wilber abandoned the burning vessel in an inflatable boat and was soon taken aboard a private craft, the Sub Chaser, Honke said. Wilber was brought ashore at Dana Point Harbor.
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