Man, 84, injured in Newport boat fire

A man was injured when flames engulfed a power boat Saturday afternoon while it was docked at a Newport Beach marina.

The 84-year-old man was aboard the 34-foot boat moored near East Coast Highway and Bayside Drive when the blaze started around 4:15 p.m., according to witness Robert Hillchey, who was on a boat nearby when the fire started in the area behind the 3-Thirty-3 Waterfront restaurant.

Hillchey said he and a dockworker battled the flames until firefighters on trucks and a boat responded and quickly doused the blaze.

The injured man is expected to survive, according to police.

“I smelled smoke and thought it was my husband, who had been smoking a cigar on the patio. Then we saw that it was the boat on fire from our apartment,” neighbor Claire Fozs said.

Newport Beach fire officials did not immediately have a damage estimate Monday.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, police said.

— Susan Hoffman and Jeremiah Dobruck

Twitter: @TheDailyPilot