Rainy weather boat fire causes $10,000 damage

A 51-foot sailboat moored in Newport Harbor suffered around $10,000 in

damages during a fire late Saturday afternoon.

Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol responded to a fire aboard the

Vixen, located in the harbor near 10th Street, at around 5:13 p.m., said

Sgt. Ron Peoples.

Peoples said the boat’s owner noticed the fire, most likely from the

smoke and smell, and used a small boat to go to a neighbor’s vessel to

call it in.

“It was fortunate because we had two fireboats in the area and they

were in proximity and on scene in about two minutes,”

Peoples said.

The fire, which burned the backside of the stairs leading from the

deck to the galley, was extinguished fairly quickly, he said.

Preliminary investigation shows that the fire may have started from a

rag that was covered in oil. Damage was estimated at around $10,000,

Peoples said.

“Historically when we haverainy weather, we traditionally have boat

fires,” he said. Peoples attributed it in part to people using more

equipment during inclement conditions.