Welding Job Sparks Fire on Fishing Boat

Fire destroyed a fishing boat at an Oxnard boatyard Saturday when a welding-repair job went awry.

Repairs on the hull of the Tricia, a 37-foot fishing vessel in dry dock at the Anacapa Boatyard near Channel Islands Harbor, had just been completed about 11 a.m. when smoke began billowing from the boat’s cabin, witnesses said.

“It was amazing how quick it happened,” said George Crow, who was nearby painting his sailboat when the fire erupted. “The welder had just been there working on it and all of a sudden smoke was pouring out from the top of the boat.”

The uninsured boat suffered approximately $80,000 damage and may not be worth repairing, said owner Dan Brainerd of Oxnard.

Brainerd and firefighters suspect that the boat caught fire because heat from the welding work was transferred from the hull up to the cabin, which contained combustible materials.

“The heat just moved up through the boat and caught the paneling and cushions on fire,” Brainerd said.

While the fire damage was significant, it could have been much worse, said Bill Gallaher, an acting fire captain in Oxnard. The vessel’s diesel fuel tanks could have ignited, causing flames to spread to other boats and perhaps even to the repair yard’s propane tank.

“We would have had burning liquid all over the place,” Gallaher said.

It took nearly 20 firefighters from Oxnard and the Naval Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme about five minutes to put out the blaze.