Fire at Squalicum Harbor

C

c-ness

New member
I was sitting down reading the paper this morning at 5:30 when I heard a loud explosion followed by several smaller explosions. About five minutes later a series of fire trucks started streaming into the harbor where the boat houses are located. Evidently one of the houses caught on fire. They can hold up to 20 boats. The fire looked intense and there was much smoke. I just heard that the fire is still burning and that the roof of the house has collapsed. I hope no one was hurt.
 
Kiro & has live streaming video. Looks like a whole covered dock/boat house went up.

Hope Joe and Ruth are still moored where we last saw them (In the other marina where we have the CBGT)

M
 
I went down to the harbor to see what things looked like. The boat house that went down is the one furthest from the gate. This likely hindered fire fighters due to lack of access. And Bellingham no longer has a fire boat.

The entire boat house is completely down and even the pillars were on fire. Right now there is a veritable stew of various agencies parked in the lot outside gate 3. The cleanup begins.

Sadly, there are two missing. Let's hope for the best.
 
DaveS":2b7416gd said:
c-ness":2b7416gd said:
And Bellingham no longer has a fire boat.
Click to expand...

The Fire Boat recently became a victim of Budget Cuts.
Click to expand...

This was very tragic, and it looks like two lives were lost. With respect to cutting the fire boat from the budget, it brings to mind a previous post of mine in which I stated that I had the honor of hearing the "Father of Disaster Recovery Planning", Mr. Edward S. Devlin, at a seminar more than 10 year's ago. He said that everyone seems to think that Murphy never strikes, but in fact: it strikes all the time, and he went on to illustrate with specific examples, such as a town on the East Coast that was solely dependent upon a factory for its economic survival. One day, its well-practiced volunteer fire department helplessly watched the factory burn to the ground, because the fire had coincided with a 500-year flood that prevented them from crossing a bridge. This bridge spanned the waterway separating the island (upon which the factory stood) from the mainland. In all levels of business, government and even in our own lives, we need to plan for the unexpected. This is why it is important to perform a risk analysis along with appropriate procedures and funding to mitigate loss.

Rich
 
So sad. I've seen enough death in my line of work, but it's still tragic when people are taken in the prime of their lives.

T/P's for their families....
 
Back
Top