Three Killed in Boat Fire Off Point Loma

Three people died Saturday and eight others were injured after an intense fire erupted on a sailboat cruising offshore about 2 1/2 miles south of Point Loma, the U.S. Coast Guard reported.

One person was pronounced dead on arrival at UC San Diego Medical Center after being evacuated by a Navy helicopter from the burning 52-foot ketch La Gitana.

The other two people who died were removed from below deck only after a Coast Guard vessel towed the sailboat to a Coast Guard dock at Ballast Point, where adequately-equipped personnel fought intense heat and could remain in the hold long enough to carry out the bodies, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

The medical examiner’s office was in the process of identifying the bodies and notifying the next-of-kin late Saturday, and no names were immediately available.

The eight who were injured jumped overboard immediately after the fire broke out and were rescued by a passing boat, the Wanderer, which was in the vicinity just outside the main channel to the bay, near San Diego Sea Buoy No. 1.

The Wanderer took the eight persons to the San Diego Harbor Police docks at Shelter Island, where paramedics treated them for burns, shock and smoke inhalation, the Coast Guard said. Two were later taken to UCSD Medical Center, two to Mission Bay Hospital and two to Sharp Cabrillo Hospital, and all were released Saturday night after additional treatment, hospital spokeswomen said.

The Coast Guard said that the sailboat’s captain, who was injured in the incident, radioed a call for help about 4:30 p.m. in reporting a fire on board. The Coast Guard sent a 41-foot utility rescue boat and diverted two Navy H-60 helicopters to hover above the boat. In addition, a firefighting boat from the San Diego Lifeguard Service and two from the San Diego Harbor Patrol were sent to the scene.

Coast Guard spokesmen said that there was “extreme, extreme” heat and smoke on the sailboat, which added to the difficulty caused by 4-foot swells and the cramped quarters on a sailboat of that length, about the width of two hallways.

Lt. Charles Wright of the lifeguard service said the fire was in the aft area of the sailboat, where such boats often have auxiliary diesel or gas engines to help them maneuver in and out of the harbor.

“My men said that it was extremely difficult to get in because they had to go through a forward hatch that was maybe 1 1/2 feet to 2 feet wide at most,” Wright said. “The other hatches were locked and they had to try to break them with hatchets. The heat was too intense in the aft section” for the one lifeguard equipped with breathing apparatus to do more than pull the one person out who was transported by helicopter, Wright said.

“He could see that the other two victims were not moving at the bottom of the boat and already underwater” from the spray being directed at the sailboat from the fireboats, Wright said.

Times staff writer Paul Chavez contributed to this story.