Firefighters extinguish flames on a 37-foot Uniflite boat at Eliason Harbor this morning. No one was hurt in the fire that was likely caused by an oil heater or electric heater on the boat. The Cropley family had been getting ready to go deer hunting when the fire broke out. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A fire destroyed a 37-foot fiberglass pleasure boat at its slip in Eliason Harbor this morning.
Fire Chief Craig Warren said the cause has not been determined, but a diesel stove and electric heater were running at the time of the fire.
“Most likely it was one of those two sources,” he said.
Sitka Fire Department responded to a 911 call at 8:47 a.m. with a fire truck and the harbor response cart. The boat, named Megabucks, was tied up in stall 27 on Float 5, some distance from the gangway to the harbor dock. It took about two hours to knock down the flames, Warren said.
Warren said the owners of the boat, Jo and Sonny Cropley, told officials that they had planned to go out on their boat, and arrived to find smoke in the cabin. When they opened the door to let the smoke out, “that’s when it caught fire. That gave it the oxygen,” Warren said.
The black smoke rising from the vessel was visible from throughout town.
The 20 firefighters and EMTs responding to the fire found the boat engulfed in flames from end to end, the chief said. There were no injuries, but it was not an easy fire to put out, the chief said.
“We had two challenges,” Warren said. “One, it’s made of fiberglass – when it catches fire it doesn’t like to go out.”
The other challenge was getting water to the fire in the voids created after the cabin collapsed into the hull.
The fire department used a hose from one of the fire lockers in the harbor, a portable pump and two hoses from the harbor response kit. Harbor staff members also were on hand to help.
Warren said the boat is a total loss and that the department would likely not be conducting an investigation.
“There’s so much damage throughout, conducting an investigation into the cause would be difficult,” he said. “We’re not going to be able to find typical patterns we would find (in other fires).”
A Go Fund Me campaign has been started on behalf of the family, noting the Cropleys’ 30-year history of owning the boat, the work that went into its upkeep, the family’s generosity to the community, and the extensive losses not only of the boat but expensive equipment inside. By press time today, some $1,200 had been raised of the $40,000 fundraising goal.
The fundraising link is at:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/fv-megabucks-total-loss?qid=0c50a43b6c5de19ea0de5d25f51ad178.
