Click for Ocean Alexander Click for Delta Click for Abeking Click for Burger Click for Burger

Two separate boat fires in FTL

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Pascal, May 16, 2020.

You need to be registered and signed in to view this content.
  1. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2008
    Messages:
    11,205
    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Yeah, I'm just hoping nobody would be that stupid and cavalier. Plus Florida isn't shy about following through with their death penalty. So maybe fear will help. Also the hit to the economy hasn't really come home to roost yet. By next winter though there could be a major sale on matches and drill bits. I still remember back in '96 when a doctor and his wife here sank their boat and burned their waterfront home. Their lives did NOT get better. He learned that insurance companies WILL bring boats up from 180' much to his chagrin.
  2. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2013
    Messages:
    7,132
    Location:
    Fort Lauderdale
    Unfortunately, people commit arson all the time for various reasons such as insurance and revenge, but also for no reason at all other than their own enjoyment. Sometimes one might see one fire and decide another would be entertaining. We once had a young mentally handicapped boy who set the back of a warehouse on fire because he'd seen a television show where the person who discovered and put out a fire was a hero. He set the fire and ran for the fire extinguisher but someone else saw it and kept him away as they tried to control it. The damage was $5 million. There were no charges made and we actually felt bad for the kid as he felt horrible about what he'd done. We did discontinue our effort with the local program that provided him, but he had been a good worker. Just a hard lesson in one's thought processes being different.

    I saw an arson on a business that everyone thought was set by the owner. Except then they found out the owner had no insurance. Never figured it out.
  3. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2008
    Messages:
    8,120
    Location:
    Miami, FL
    The two fires In FTL do sound suspicious because of the timing and close locations.
    The fires in Key Biscayne both happened in the morning and just a few miles (and two weeks apart).

    Nowadays with security cameras it s hard to imagine anyone taking such risks regardless of motives. That said, Rickenbacker Marina is a bit decrepit pending legal battle over a new operator and I don’t know if they had cameras. They do have a sleepy guard at the dock entrance... no idea about Crandon as I haven’t been there in years. It s county owned so I doubt it s state of the art, just like city owned Dinner Key where half the lights have been missing since Irma
  4. d_meister

    d_meister Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2010
    Messages:
    468
    Location:
    La Conner, WA.
    Boat fires at service locations makes me wonder about interior varnish, wet solvent rags, and spontaneous combustion. The legendary Mojo burned here in San Diego during interior varnish at a boatyard, but the official rumor was that it was due to a lamp falling over.
    Industries using solvent and rags routinely have a self-closing fire-resistant rag collection cans. Auto repair shops and many other trades have them.

    https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/...ces/Safety-tip-sheets/OilyRagsSafetyTips.ashx
  5. timvail

    timvail Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2010
    Messages:
    136
    Location:
    georgian bay penetanguishene
    First rule of thumb when investigating a Sudden Incident (i.e. boat fire). In these cases you treat it as arson til the Evidence proves otherwise.