Delta Vessels Burn East Of Antioch

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dbdude

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http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_234115915.html Ten vessels ranging from houseboats, to tug boats, sailing boats and barges were reportedly burning off Mandeville Island east of Antioch Wednesday, and two more were threatened, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The fire was reported at 7:15 a.m., and the boats' owner remained on one vessel despite the Coast Guard's attempts to rescue him.

"(The owner didn't) want to leave his boat," Coast Guard Lt. Anya Hunter said.

The Coast Guard was the only unit on scene fighting the fires since that area is not within the local fire department's jurisdiction,
Hunter said.

"We only do fire fighting to save a life because we don't have the resources to fight fires," Hunter said.

The man's 12 boats are tied up together and very close to the land, according to Hunter.

Hunter said the owner was picked up by a friend and taken safely to land. The Coast Guard lacks the proper resources to continue battling the blaze now that the man is onshore, Hunter added.

"(But) we want to talk with him so we can figure out what caused the fires," Hunter said.

With raw video..
http://cbs5.com/video/?id=26092rb2@gr5tkpix.dayport.com
 
I'll second Flutter's opinion. The boats are moored off of that northern tip of Little Mandeville Island. The other bank is Quimby Island which is just to the north.

I'm just guessing from the shape of the islands. The last time I went around Little Mandeville must have been back in 1999 or so when I kept the boat on Bethel Is. I don't remember the pier being there. I remember the tules on the south end of Little Mandeville, though.
 
Must be the fire season on the water too >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Whale-watching boat catches fire in Monterey Bay
The Associated Press
Last Updated 8:20 am PDT Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Print | E-Mail | | Digg it | del.icio.us
MOSS LANDING, Calif. -- A whale-watching boat with 41 people aboard caught fire while touring Monterey Bay, but no one was injured, officials said.
The 55-foot Pt. Sur Clipper, owned by Monterey Bay Boat Charters, had been cruising through the bay for hours Tuesday afternoon without a whale sighting when passengers smelled smoke, passengers said.
The fire started in the exhaust pipes and spread to the 40-year-old boat's roof. White plumes of smoke climbed into the air and turned black. The flames surrounded the wooden enclosure where the captain's controls and life jackets are held.
"It was really frightening," said Diane Clements of Phoenix, who was vacationing in Monterey.
The four crew members used fire extinguishers and passengers doused flames with buckets of sea water, but the boat was still on fire when it made an emergency stop at a dock in Moss Landing, North County Fire Division Chief Doug McCoun said.
Passengers had evacuated and the blaze was mostly out by the time Monterey County fire trucks arrived to put out the remaining flames.
"I haven't had this happen before," said Nancy Black, co-owner and captain of the boat.
Coast guard investigators were seeking the cause of the blaze.
 
Geez, that could have been a real disaster if the boat had not been close to shore! Sounds like the skipper kept her wits about her though.
 
10 boats? Sounds like another Mayberry Slough. I wonder what happened? Meth lab gone awry?
 
My bet is with you, UD. This guy used to be at Bethel Island and had to relocate to San Joaquin County. He is an "unofficial" salvage person . vs Phil Delano of VAAA/Boat US. He knows the laws and salvage's within those laws, but has no licenses, etc. Phil is 100% on the up and up.
 
Or maybe he had these boats insured and is trying to collect on the policy. I knew one guy down in the SF bay that made a living off of insurance fraud. I can understand accidents, but when you have two or three boats lost due to fire, something is not quite right.
 
quote:
Originally posted by UpperDecker

Or maybe he had these boats insured and is trying to collect on the policy. I knew one guy down in the SF bay that made a living off of insurance fraud. I can understand accidents, but when you have two or three boats lost due to fire, something is not quite right.

Click to expand...

When you have ten boats rafted up, stuck out in tules in the middle of nowhere, something is not quite right.
 
I do find it odd that everything went up in flames. Maybe the guy that I knew down on the SF Bay was getting in too much hot water and needed to hide. He was a real work of art. He knew boats very well and his girlfriend knew marine insurance very well and together they pulled off many scams.
 
My money is on a meth lab explosion which took out all the boats. The fumes could have traveled to the other boats and then when the explosion hit, everything got going.
 
We'll find out once the fire marshall does his inspection. I'll bet the guy will claim that he was making bio diesel.
 
Bio Diesel .... for all those boats which were Dead In The Water prior to the fire! LOL
 
Before you guess arson, remember he was onboard when the fire broke out. And refused to leave. Not an arsonist thing to do. Also, he claims he was welding on one of those boats when this happened. And yes, he is a well known name in Methel,I mean Bethel.. Island.

FindMe
 
The Delta does seem to have more than it's share of tweakers. When I heard about this, the first thing that came to my mind was meth lab.
 
FindMe Bethel Island is no longer a haven for meth labs, etc. They have been run off of the island. Come out and see how things have been changing!
 
Yes, from what it seems here they have been run off of Bethel Island and into The Delta apparently.
 
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