Fire guts luxury yacht at Chula Vista boat yard
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Reporting from San Diego — A massive fire at a boat yard in Chula Vista has left a luxury yacht gutted and the yacht owner brokenhearted.
The fire broke out aboard the Polar Bear yacht Thursday morning and was still smoldering Friday.
The owner, Larry Jodsass, 79, a retired executive, told KNSD-NBC7 of his grief at learning of the destruction of “my toy, my wonderful, beautiful piece of equipment.”
Jodsass told the TV station that the yacht was valued at $24 million. It was in the Marine Group Boat Works after a trip to Costa Rica.
“I enjoyed it tremendously,” he said from his home in Minnesota. “I think it was worth the money that I put into it.”
No official cause for the blaze has been determined, but investigators are probing the possibility that a welding spark during the repair work may have caused the fire.
Several boat yard workers and firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation, officials said.
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