Fishing Boat Lost in Blaze

A 46-foot fishing boat caught fire in Ventura Harbor Village early Monday and continued to burn for nearly eight hours before firefighters put out the flames.

The fire started just after midnight, most likely because of an electrical short circuit somewhere on the boat, said Battalion Chief Rod Smith of the Ventura Fire Department.

The late-model wood vessel called St. Peter was loaded down with fuel, fishing equipment and other items that were easily combustible, Smith said.

The boat was a total loss, and the fire caused more than $200,000 in damage, he said.

Three fishermen living on the boat, anchored at a crowded dock in the marina, escaped unharmed. They were assisted by the Red Cross, said Scott Miller, operations manager for the Ventura Harbor Patrol.

Frank Younce, who lives on a boat in a nearby marina, noticed the flames and called 911.

“It got really big really fast,” Younce said. “It scared the daylights out of me.”

Smith said firefighters arrived about 12:20 a.m. and worked on the fire for three hours. Believing they had extinguished the blaze, firefighters left the scene and Harbor Patrol officers had the boat towed to a nearby jetty, away from other boats, he said.

But the boat continued to smolder, and flames erupted again. Firefighters returned about 7:30 a.m. and doused it a second time.

Miller said in the 21 years he has worked at the harbor, he had never seen a fire destroy a docked boat.

Of the 1,300 boats docked there, 70 are commercial, most used as fishing vessels.