Fire Aboard Can Ruin Your Whole Day
Fires have broken out aboard several yachts around the country in the last week and a number of boats have been gutted as a result. The fire in the vessel above reportedly started in the engine room. Another fire in our hometown of Stamford, CT, recently gutted a classic wooden sailboat that was maintained in Bristol fashion, reportedly due to a faulty shore power connection aboard the boat. Fire is an ever-present possibility aboard boats and that is why fire extinguishers are required. Do you know where yours are, and have they been tested this year?
 Fire Rescue crews put out a fire on an 104-foot pleasure craft returning from the Bahamas Sunday morning that pulled into Rybovich Marina at 45th Street and Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach. The fire broke out as the megayacht entered the Palm Beach Inlet. |
From the Palm Beach Post---
By BILL DIPAOLO
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Three firefighters were injured tackling a yacht fire that started about 5:30 a.m. this morning sending out 30-foot flames and blackening the early morning sky.
Docked at Rybovich Marina, which is on Flagler Drive just south of 45th Street, the boat’s structure, including a 3,000-gallon diesel tank, was still burning at 6 p.m. and was expected to burn into the night.
Absorbent barriers were placed around the ship to prevent fuel from polluting the Intracoastal Waterway, said Chase Scott, West Palm Beach spokesman.
West Palm Beach Fire Rescue Capt. Rick Curtis collapsed at the marina and was taken to an area hospital. Two other firefighters were injured opening a door on the boat and were also taken to a hospital.
One received second-degree burns on his hand. The other was slightly injured. “The flames just flew out,” said Scott.
The 104-foot La Diva was owned in 2008 by Palm Beach residents Christina and Bill Kallop, according to previous news reports. The Kallops also own the Honey Fitz, the former presidential yacht owned for John F. Kennedy now undergoing restoration.
According to superyachttimes.com, La Diva was built in 1994 in Italy. It has four staterooms. In 2005, it had a sale price of $3.75 million.
None of the seven crew members was injured.
The “La Diva” was heading into the Palm Beach Inlet when the fire broke out. The captain pulled into the nearest dock he could find and the crew evacuated. The boat’s owner is a customer at the marina, said Assistant Fire Chief Carlos Cabrera.
“We cut a hole in the side of the hull and pumped in foam to smother the flames,” said Cabrera.Marina workers moved nearby yachts away from “La Diva.”
“We got there and there were huge flames,” said Sean O’Brien, who was laying tile about 5:30 a.m. in a nearby house when he smelled and saw the fire. “It was like an inferno.”
Once the fire dies out, the value of the craft will depend not only on the condition of the ship but its amenities, such as granite tabletops, his-and-her bathrooms and entertainment equipment, said Jim Barboni, a salesman for HMY Yacht Sales in Palm Beach Gardens.
“The entire structure of the craft was engulfed in flames. It sounds like it’s a goner,” said Barboni.