Up to 75 firefighters tackled a fire last week at a marina on the Essex coast, which destroyed a corrugated iron boatshed housing at least five boats and spread to neighbouring buildings.
Firefighters were on the scene at the Blackwater Marina in Mayland at around 8.30am and spent most of the day bringing the blaze under control. The fire spread quickly through ducting in the building and spread to two portable buildings and four other boats. Essex Fire and Rescue used 10 jets, seven hose reel jets, an aerial ladder platform, a hose laying unit and a ground monitor. Damping down operations continued until the following morning.
“Crews have worked very hard and faced severe water shortages because of the remote location and the fact that the tide was out,” said assistant divisional officer Neil Fenwick. “The building was being used for carpentry work and it seems that a spark got into the pile of sawdust and that is how the fire started. We will obviously be carrying out a full investigation to establish the exact cause.”
In a separate incident also last week, eight boats were destroyed in a fire at the Sunshine Marine boatyard in Holyhead. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and North Wales Police are conducting a joint investigation into the cause of the fire.
Ironically, the two fires occurred during the national Boat Safety Week campaign, during which boat owners were offered free fire safety checks.
