RVRGIRL
Taurus
HDF Supporter
Poopsie Bubble Buns
 
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Posts: 2,220
APPD 0.28
Post Rank: 29
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Posted: Aug. 03 2004,4:09 pm |
Post # 1 |
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Officials: A total of 16 boats destroyed in fire at Topock marina
By Gary Weiand
Monday, August 2, 2004 10:24 PM MDT
Officials said Monday that a total of 16 boats were destroyed in a fire at the Topock Gorge Marina.
According to Havasu National Wildlife Refuge Officer Matt Sherrell, Sunday's fire could have been worse if it had spread to the shoreline or if the fuel and oil spills had not been contained.
Sherrell said that all but two of the 18 boats involved were destroyed. The blaze began when the rear end of a boat exploded as it was being started, he said. The ensuing fire destroyed most of the marina's easternmost docking area and partly burned the pier of the neighboring docking area. The explosion is under investigation but the boat total is final, he said.
"We've accounted for all of them," Sherrell said. "Seven were underwater, nine could be towed, and two had only minor damage."
Sherrell said that firefighters prevented the flames from reaching the other docks. He said that after the fire was contained, the issue became hazardous materials - gas and oil - in the water, where they could catch fire, or drift into the Refuge.
He said that although the marina is private land, the danger to the Refuge caused the federal Wildland Fire Department to handle the cleanup. By 4 p.m. Sunday, a private company out of Needles had laid fuel and oil containment buoys at the end of the marina channel, and later a fuel containment crew came in from Las Vegas, Sherrell said. He said that they cleaned up the area before the boats were raised.
"They mopped it off," Sherrell said. "We wanted it sealed off before we raised the sunken boats."
Sherrell said that he knew of no visible environmental damage. The flames did not spread to the shoreline, and it appeared that the oil and gas did not spread beyond the marina.
"We were lucky. No one died or was seriously injured, and the fire was so hot it burned up much of the fuel. We will know if there was environmental damage in the future, but for now we know we contained it," he said.
Sherrell said that an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the explosion, which occurred when the boater attempted to start the engine.
You may contact the reporter at gweiand@havasunews.com
 Thats "MRS" RVRGIRL 2 you..... "When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt."
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3-27-2025 Three Word Post.....The Next Generation.... (Rep.#19,672) from: GoFastRacer
For one thing you never can hear the blower especially if you're in an area with noise all around you, so you don't know if the blower is working or not!..A guy I knew a long time ago had a 24' Spectra and was by himself cruising around and decided to stop out on the lake and kick back for a while, he ended up falling asleep for about an hour, when he woke up and went to fire it up KABOOM, he woke up in the hospital with a humongous headache and didn't remember a thing. The doctors said he was lucky that he was in a longer boat otherwise he may not have made it. Witesses said all they seen was a big ball of fire and the cover flying thru the air!..That's some scary shit!.. 
