OXNARD : Man Left Homeless After Boat Burns
An Oxnard man who lived aboard his 31-foot cabin cruiser in Channel Islands Harbor was left homeless Sunday after fire destroyed the vessel as it was moored in its slip, officials said.
David Schwendeman, owner of the Trojan cruiser Lucky Day, was not hurt in the Sunday morning fire, which is still under investigation.
Emergency crews from the Oxnard Fire Department, U.S. Coast Guard and county Fire Department fought the 8:50 a.m. blaze, officials said.
Oxnard Fire Department Battalion Chief Clarence Slayton said the boat, docked in a slip just off Peninsula Road and valued at $7,500, was completely destroyed. Another $2,500 in property was lost in the blaze, Slayton said.
The charred remains--still afloat--bobbed back and forth in the harbor slip late Sunday morning while nearby residents looked on. Neighbors said they heard what sounded like a crash before seeing the flames.
“I kept telling everybody, ‘That’s where the Lucky Day is,’ ” said John VonColln, who said he was a prior owner of the boat.
“What a shame,” he said, looking over the burned-out hull of the cruiser. “That boat was an institution in this harbor.”
Another vessel, the Broadcast News anchored in the next slip, sustained minor heat damage as a result of the fire.
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