Roche Harbor boat fire
The state Department of Ecology is responding to a fire on an 85-foot pleasure craft at the Roche Harbor Marina on San Juan Island in case of an oil spill. At this time, no fuel from the burning craft has spilled.
Summary information
Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, WA
Ariel view of the Roche Harbor boat fire incident.
Status updates
August 8, 2013
The craft was raised from the water and towed to Bellingham for salvage evaluation.
July 11, 2013
The craft, reportedly carrying up to 1,600 gallons of diesel fuel, has sunk in Roche Harbor following the fire. The fire has been put out.
Spilled fuel is being collected from containment with oil absorbent materials, report responders. Efforts are being made to pump the remaining fuel from the vessels tanks. The responsible party has contracted with Global Diving to salvage the vessel and remove the fuel.
The Roche Harbor Marina deployed an oil spill containment boom in the marina as a precaution when the fire broke out. Islands’ Oil Spill Association (IOSA), a local spill response contractor, also deployed boom in accordance to a predetermined local geographic response plan.
Ecology is coordinating its response with local fire, law enforcement, emergency management agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Cause of the fire is under investigation.
July 10, 2013
The state Department of Ecology (Ecology) is responding to a fire on an 85-foot pleasure craft at the Roche Harbor Marina on San Juan Island in case of an oil spill. Ecology’s on-scene spill-response contractor, the Islands Oil Spill Association (IOSA), has placed oil spill containment boom in the marina as a precaution, and is standing by to perform any cleanup that may be needed. At this time, no fuel from the burning craft has spilled. Ecology is coordinating its response with local fire, law enforcement and emergency management agencies and with the U.S. Coast Guard. Ecology will join IOSA at the scene later this afternoon.
At this time, no fuel has been reported as spilled, though firefighting debris remains in the water. The vessel has also been reported listing to the right at a 10 to 15-degree angle. The Coast Guard has issued a 100-yard safety zone around the vessel. Ecology is coordinating its response with local fire, law enforcement and emergency management agencies and with the U.S. Coast Guard. Ecology will join IOSA at the scene later this afternoon. Customs and Border Protection is requesting that vessels within the area proceed to Friday Harbor for customs clearance. The cause of the fire is unknown.
The fire has been put out and the vessel is surrounded with hard boom. The bow is underwater, but the boat is still floating. There has been no fuel discharged to water. The responsible party has contracted with Global Divers to deploy air bags to keep the vessel afloat. A vacuum truck is in route to pump off the vessel's fuel. IOSA has set anchors for a nearby geographic based response plan. The hard boom is currently in use containing debris.