Newport Beach boat fire under investigation...

Newport Beach boat fire under investigation

A fire on a boat owned by a Newport Beach man is being

investigated as suspicious, harbor patrol officials said Friday.

The fire reportedly started about noon Thursday in the galley area

of a 28-foot fiberglass Well craft belonging to George Tepich, 62, of

Newport Beach, authorities said.

The boat, which was about 10 miles off Newport Beach’s shore, was

fully engulfed with flames by the time the harbor patrol arrived

about 15 minutes later, Capt. Marty Kasules said.

Tepich suffered chest and neck pains and a bruised right knee, and

he was treated by paramedics at the dock, Kasules said.

Two fireboats and a Coast Guard boat battled the fire for about 35

minutes before it was extinguished. The fire was extremely difficult

to put out because of oils and resin in the fiberglass, Kasules said.

Once the fire was out, the crews began the arduous task of towing

the vessel back to the harbor. While towing it, a part of the hull,

which had burned down to the water line, started filling up with

water, causing the boat to capsize, Kasules said.

The boat was finally removed from the water about 8 p.m. and taken

to a shipyard.

Plane avoids landing problems at JWA

A single-engine general aviation aircraft reported an alternator

failure on its approach to the runway at John Wayne Airport about

8:30 a.m. Friday. The Gruman Tiger aircraft landed without incident.

Late last month, a commercial plane bound for Atlanta from John

Wayne was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles

International Airport after one of its two engines failed. No one was

injured.

-- Deirdre Newman