Looked like a giant pile of tires burning, the smoke was so black and
thick.


Five boats catch fire at South Shore Harbour

By Sara McDonald
The Daily News

Published March 26, 2007

LEAGUE CITY - Three people were hospitalized after a luxury cruiser
exploded and four other boats caught fire at the South Shore Harbour
marina about 5:30 Sunday night.

Two men were aboard the 50-foot yacht when it ignited, sending a
pillar of flames and black smoke into the sky, League City Volunteer
Fire Department District Chief Bryan Holmes said.

Emergency responders rescued one of the passengers floating in the
water five boat slips down from where the boat was docked.

The two men aboard the boat were taken by helicopter to Memorial
Hermann Hospital. Their names and conditions were not released, but
workers on the scene said they were being treated for severe burn
injuries. A third man was transported by ambulance to St. John's
Hospital. It is not known if he was aboard any of the boats or not.

One man started hosing down the boat next to the exploded yacht to
keep it from igniting, but the fire spread to it anyway, League City
resident Christina Felts, who witnessed the fire, said.

The fire spread to the boat next to it and three boats that were
across from it, destroying two of them and severely damaging the other
two.

All five boats that caught on fire were luxury cruiser yachts between
50 and 60 feet long, Holmes said.

Jeff Wisocki, who lives in The Palms apartment complex that backs up
to the marina, said he heard the explosion from inside his apartment.

"You could hear the windows shake," he said. "I thought it was thunder
or something huge. Then I looked outside and saw the flames."

Wisocki said he heard his neighbor above him calling 911 from his
deck, so he went outside and tried to help.

He and another apartment resident, John McLaurin, helped Coast Guard
workers pull a wooden boat out of a nearby slip to keep it from
catching fire.

The boat that exploded sunk and began leaking fuel into the water.
Specialty emergency workers from Garner Environmental Services
cordoned off the area and placed a boom in the water to keep the fuel
from spreading, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Adam Wine said.

They were also monitoring the gas content in the air to make sure
nothing reignited.

Hundreds of people inside the South Shore Harbour center lined the
balcony overlooking the dock, watching the fire, Holmes said.

Wisocki said the boat that exploded was for sale and that the marina
salesperson told him that it had a fuel leak.

Firefighters from Kemah, Dickinson, Seabrook and League City, along
with the U.S. Coast Guard, responded to the scene.

It took about 30 minutes to put the fire out, League City Volunteer
Fire Department Capt. Ray Bigonesse said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.