Two boats damaged by fire near Anchorage Marina in Baltimore
BALTIMORE -- Several emergency crews worked fast Wednesday morning to extinguish a fire that spread to two boats at Anchorage Marina in Baltimore.
Crews responded to the fire around 9 a.m. in the 2500 block of Boston Street in the Canton community.
Quite a morning here at Anchorage Marina on Boston St in Baltimore. Talked to a man who owns a boat here, says a fire started at one and spread to another that was shrink wrapped.
— Dennis Valera (@dennisreports) January 31, 2024
This was taken earlier by Bobby LaPin. @wjz pic.twitter.com/7fgVup9f5Y
The investigation is focusing on the potential environmental impact, especially since one of the involved boats sank during the fire fight.
Determining what exactly sparked this fire is also a priority.
Multiple videos from WJZ viewers show flames and smoke billowing from boats at the marina.
Joe Meyerhoff was one of the first people to see the fire.
"Something had caught fire either up on the flybridge [of the boat], or the main deck," he said. "It just got worse and worse."
This happened around 20 min ago now, but one of the boats submerged.
— Dennis Valera (@dennisreports) January 31, 2024
Baltimore Fire, Coast Guard, and MD Dept. of the Environment are some of the agencies responding here. pic.twitter.com/g5yJE1V0L2
Meyerhoff's boat is two down from where the fire was. He said his boat didn't get damaged, but what matters most is no one was hurt in any of this.
The fire burned through the rope tethering it to the dock, allowing it to float to the other side. But not before another boat caught on fire.
Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said the strategy was to load up the boats with water, other marine resources were also in play.
"You hear us talk a lot about rapid intervention teams. We always have teams outside of dwellings and things like that," Wallace said. "This was a case where our rapid intervention was actually the dive team."
The boat that floated away eventually sank. Pulling the boat out of the water is a very careful process, Wallace said, because there's concern of fuel and other contaminants leaking out.
"As fuel is released from these boats, you wanna be able to absorb it," he said. "Once we have that under control, at some point in time there'll be a salvage team that'll come in and attempt to salvage that boat that's on the bottom."
Mayor Brandon Scott stopped by Anchorage Marina to thank first responders for their service, gratitude that Meyerhoff and other boat owners at the marina reiterated.
"I've been around boats for 50-60 years, I've never seen anything like this. It's pretty crazy," Meyerhoff said.
Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Coast Guard also responded to this fire.