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Fire in Storage Facility Destroys 80 Boats

ARTICLE COURTESY OF INTERNATIONAL BOATING NEWS

A massive fire broke out at a marina in the Spanish resort town of Marbella Wednesday night, destroying some 80 boats in the port of La Bajadilla.

Firefighters battled to control the flames for more than 2 hours but prevented the spread to other nearby boats on hardstand areas and in the in-water slips, according to accounts from Europe.

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Marina Marbella’s storage facility collapsed from the fire on Spain’s Costa del Sol.

Police and firefighters were alerted at around 7.30pm local time, Jan. 11, 2023, to a spectacular blaze in a warehouse owned by Marina Marbella that was used for storage and boat repairs.

The incessant sound of sirens alerted residents, who were amazed at the voracity of the flames which, in a matter of minutes, devoured the structure until it collapsed with around 80 boats from 20ft-40ft inside.

Some 30 firefighters, health services and a dozen civil protection volunteers helped extinguish the flames that spread at high speed through the materials and internal fuel sources.

The fire was under control by around 9 pm, according to officials, but was not considered completely extinguished until dawn. Three fire trucks remained in the area throughout the night.

“It started in the southern area of the shop, the workshops, and spread to the north,” said Medardo Tudela, chief of firefighters. “The structure collapsed, but the fire did not spread to boats outside of the facility,” he said.

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Onlookers watch the daunting inferno at the Marabella marina, where there is berthing for more than 600 boats.

Fortunately, a northwest wind helped extinguish the flames. There was initial concern that the fire would spread to the nearby fishing boats, docked just a few meters away, and to the rest of the port.

The mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, said while the smoke was extremely toxic due to the nature of the burned materials, the direction of the wind moved it away from the urban centre. In any case, a nearby hospital was told to keep windows closed as a precaution.

At the moment, the possible cause of the accident has not been disclosed and the final evaluation of the damage is pending, among which was also one of the vehicles parked in the vicinity that was affected by the flames.