Blaze Ravages Florida Marina, Sinking 28 Boats

A fire tore through a marina filled with houseboats and fishing vessels Friday, sending 28 boats to the bottom and destroying nearby cars and buildings. One man was seriously injured.

Damage was estimated at $5 million in the early-morning blaze at the Boat Show Marina near the St. John’s River, State Fire Marshal Capt. Wayne Petrovics said. The cause had not been determined.

“When I looked out of my little porthole, I thought everything was on fire around me. All I could see was orange,” boat owner Don Luken said. “I walked up to the wheelhouse of the boat and the heat was coming right through my windshield. I could feel it standing 4 feet back. I grabbed my money, my phone and my dog and we got out of here.”

The sunken boats leaked gas and oil that almost reached the St. John’s River, a prime bass-fishing area.

The state Department of Environmental Protection placed containment buoys in the water to keep the spills from reaching the river. Cleaning up the fuel and oil and raising the sunken boats was expected to take about two weeks.

Two other boats were damaged in the blaze, including a barely floating pontoon boat whose surrounding berth was burned away. A neighboring boat’s bow guardrail could be seen poking up from the water.

The fire began at 2 a.m. and burned for more than five hours, Volusia County spokeswoman Mary Dorn said. Dorn said firefighters were able to save about 50 boats, but many suffered heat damage that included melted plastic.

A boat owner trying to save a neighbor’s vessel suffered third- and second-degree burns to his hand and shoulder and a severely injured foot from stepping on glass, Dorn said. He was listed in stable condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center on Friday afternoon.

One person was initially reported missing, but authorities later found him unharmed.

Officials said about five other people lived in houseboats that were destroyed. They were not injured. All of the boat residents were evacuated to a shelter at a nearby church.