2 Boats Destroyed In Newton Yacht Club Fire
NEWTON (CBS) - Two boats were destroyed but firefighters were able to save several others from a devastating fire at the Newton Yacht Club early Tuesday morning.
Flames broke out around 3:30 a.m. on a boat docked at the club on Nonantum Road and an employee called for help.
"We had a lot of issues getting water down to the boat in question," Newton Fire Lt. Eric Fricke told reporters, noting that the nearest fire hydrant was 4,000 feet away.
The closest hydrant on the shore side was ~3500' away. E-1 was the midway point in our relay pumping operation. pic.twitter.com/61AQYA7IaV
— Newton Fire (@NewtonFireDept) May 3, 2016
"For us, the biggest problem with this fire is the access and then the availability of water. Even though it's right there in the river, surrounded by water, it's not really a good place for us to draft out of, so we're forced to use the hydrants and we're right here on the Newton-Boston line, so the closest hydrants aren't right on the line, they're both back aways in each community."
The fire spread to a second boat. Firefighters cut both free from the dock and let them drift out onto the Charles River and burn out to save the surrounding boats.
There was minor damage to some other boats docked at the club.
No one was hurt.
There's no word yet on what caused the fire.
Firefighters are now focusing on minimizing any environmental damage to the area.
Companies deploying boom around both boats to keep gas and oil from drifting down river. pic.twitter.com/LlLeGCsPOX
— Newton Fire (@NewtonFireDept) May 3, 2016
No other information is available at this point in the investigation.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports