Toxic smoke, heavy flames swallow up fishing vessel in Grand Bank
They did everything they could, but firefighters in Grand Bank couldn't keep the Marcel Angie II above water on Tuesday.
The fire started on board the vessel, tied up on a new section of the town's wharf, just before 10 a.m.
Fire Chief Tony Snook said the crew spent the morning fighting the fire on board the boat, but had to pull back due to the chemical smoke coming from melting fibreglass.
"The toxic smoke was getting intense and I was losing visibility of some of the firefighters on deck, so we pulled them off for safety reasons and began to fight the fire on shore," Snook told CBC News.
The boat is from St. Pierre but has fished between Grand Bank and Fortune for at least 17 years, Snook said.
It was tied up at the wharf while some renovations were being done, but the chief wasn't sure if those had anything to do with the fire starting.
Perils of fighting fire on water
Battling flames on a fishing vessel comes with a unique set of challenges, Snook said.
"The compartmentalization of the vessel itself, unfortunately, is one of the biggest obstacles," he said.
The fire was burning out of control when they got there, with flames shooting out of either the engine room or the wheel house. The size of the firefighters' equipment, coupled with the confined space of the engine room, meant they were unable to get inside.
There was also an issue with fuel — the boat had just been filled with 4,000 litres of diesel and had about 100 litres of hydraulic fluid.
Snook said some fuel leaked into the water and caught fire, but was quickly doused by flame-retardant foam. Firefighters put a boom around the boat to prevent fuel from spreading.
By the evening, the boat had listed to the side and sunk to the bottom, with most of the vessel hidden below the water. Snook said firefighters had an easier time putting the fire out once the vessel tipped over.
The coast guard arrived later on Tuesday night and took control of the scene. Snook said divers were at the wharf on Wednesday morning to examine the hull for any leaks.
The intention is for the boat to float again, and move to a shipyard for repairs.
Snook thanked all the firefighters who helped out from Grand Bank and Fortune, and said they did a remarkable job preventing the fire from damaging the wharf.
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