Fireworks destroy boats, damage dock at Lake Minnetonka marina in Orono
ORONO, Minn. – A fire at a Lake Minnetonka marina destroyed several boats, and caused a half-million dollars in damage.
It happened overnight Wednesday after Fourth of July festivities at Your Boat Club Minnetonka on Brown's Bay in Orono.
Just before the fire, authorities say a camera caught several people lighting fireworks around the docks.
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Your Boat Club Manager Tom Clifford said he has never seen anything like it.
"I know there's one still frame of the boats that were fully engulfed," said Clifford, referring to photos of the fire.
According to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, water patrol deputies and Orono police responded to multiple boats on fire just before 2 a.m.
In the end, five boats and a dock were damaged, with two of the boats totaled. Three others had less damage, but may still be unusable.
The sheriff's office said several individuals were detained. An 18-year-old man was arrested, but released without charges.
Clifford said things could have been even worse.
"I mean, we could have lost millions of dollars of boats," he said.
Clifford says the damaged boats were removed by the following morning. The dock will need to be replaced. But it's been business as usual at Your Boat Club since daybreak Wednesday.
"We appreciate all the fire and water patrol personnel that responded," he said. "Could have been the whole marina gone."
The investigation is ongoing.