No one was injured when a fishing boat docked at the Portland Fish Pier caught fire Tuesday morning.
Deputy Chief Kevin McGuire said the call came in around 9:20 a.m., and the fire was under control in about 30 minutes. Firefighters on trucks and a city fire boat responded to the blaze on board the vessel Resolve, which is from Houma, Louisiana.
McGuire did not know where the fire started or what caused it, but said it did not spread beyond the boat.
He said at least two people were on board at the time, and one was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. No one was hospitalized.
“It took quite a while extinguishing it,” McGuire said. “The boat was under renovations, and so parts of the deck were not in place.”
The fire department is now working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to remove water from the boat and avoid contamination in the harbor. Components of the boat boat were blackened and burned, but McGuire said the steel hull was still intact. The 1,000 gallons in the fuel tank also were contained.
“It’s diesel fuel, which is flammable not but explosive,” McGuire said. “So it was a concern, but nothing that we were super worried about an explosion hazard.”
The city fire boat towed the Resolve to Portland Yacht Services around 10:45 a.m.
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