Boat catches fire twice off of Hog Island

By News Staff

news@abc6.com

The Coast Guard, DEM and other area fire boat crews responded to a boat fire off of Hog Island, just after 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. According to North Kingstown Fire Captain, John Linacre, there were three passengers on board the 26-foot vessel.  After it caught fire, they beached it, hoping to escape quickly and lessen potential environmental impacts.

"The occupants did beach the vessel on purpose so they could get off and go to safety," said Captain Linacre.

Safety crews had trouble getting to the fire by boat. Vessels had to navigate in 3-feet of water in order to get close enough to douse the flames with water pumps.

"We have limited capabilities when it comes to the shallow waters. The boat was operating in approximately three feet of water, which was as close as we could get to the vessel," Captain Linacre explained. "Our motors have a pump built into them, and it just sucks water out of the bay and puts it out through a monitor on the front of the boat and the side of the boat."

Because of the water depth, the boat caught fire a second time after it had been detained.  Smoke could be seen billowing across the harbor.

The second round of flames were extinguished just before 6 p.m.  There were no reported injuries, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

(C) 2016