A fire broke out in Port Washington’s Manhasset Bay Marina during the early hours of Jan. 22, which resulted in a man being hospitalized due to the blaze that engulfed two boats which sank after being extinguished.
A 58-year-old man who was in one of the boats was transported to a local hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and burns. Port Washington Fire Prevention Officer Brian Waterson said the man had escaped after the fire started.
A 43-foot-long marine trader boat was reported as the source of the fire, which then spread to a nearby 42-foot post boat. Waterson said the fire stretched to the second boat due to the wind and close proximity on the dock.
The boat fire caused the ropes tying them to the dock to burn as well, leading to the boats drifting into the marina. Waterson said this too lead to fire damage to the dock.
Both boats sunk after the fires were extinguished.
The fire was reported around 12:30 a.m. for a single boat fire. By the time Port Washington Chief Patrick Saccoccia, the first on the scene to arrive minutes later, two boats were found to be engulfed.
It was extinguished by 2:15 a.m.
The Port Washington Fire Department responded to the fire, receiving mutual aid from eight other departments, including the Nassau County Fire Marshall, Arson Bomb Squad and Marine Bureau.
Port Washington’s Flower Hill Hose Company 1 Engine 856 and Atlantic Hook & Ladder Co.1 Ladder 8519 responded first to the fire. The Port Washington Fire Department also deployed its 35-foot rescue boat to battle the blaze.
The call was wrought with challenges, but Waterson said the department’s training prepared them to rise to the occasion.
The fire was located at one of the furthest docks on the marina, Waterson said, requiring about 1,000 feet of two hose lines to be stretched to reach the fire. He said this took about 20 firefighters to do this.
Due to single-digit temperatures, the already narrow dock was also prone to freezing over with ice once water was sprayed on the fire. Waterson said this too posed an additional danger to the department.
The Port Washington Fire Department practices response to marine-based calls once a year, Waterson said, due to the nature of serving a community on a peninsula.
“We practice this type stuff all the time in hopes that we never have to do it,” Waterson said.
The last time the department responded to a similar call was exactly ten years and two days prior, which also included all the challenges of responding to a call in the middle of the night in below-freezing temperatures.
“And when we did that 10 years ago, we said ‘You know what” Hopefully we’ll never have to see that again,’” Waterson said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Nassau County Fire Marshal, but Waterson said due to both boats sinking the investigation may face a barrier in being solved. He said there did not appear to be a suspicious source.
