Fire torches 45-foot vessel on San Francisco Bay; 2 boaters escape

Two boaters and a dog managed to escape unharmed Monday afternoon when a fire destroyed the boat they were on in San Francisco Bay.   

The fire burned the 45-foot vessel off Westpoint Harbor in Redwood City at around 1 p.m. The San Francisco Fire Department said one of its rescue boats was at the scene extinguishing the fire. The department cited the U.S Coast Guard as saying the two occupants abandoned the boat, named Lucid Dream, once it caught fire and were rescued by a good Samaritan vessel.

The owner of the boat, Vicki Topp of Big Sur, told KPIX that she, another person and a dog were rescued by the Coast Guard and Redwood City firefighters.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Graves told KPIX the Bayliner sailing vessel was fully engulfed when a Coast Guard helicopter arrived and located the two boaters and the dog in the water.

The helicopter was not used because of the good Samaritan rescue, Graves said. Medics from the Redwood City Fire Department evaluated the two boaters on shore.

The cause of the fire was not immediately determined.