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MARINA FIRE: INVESTIGATORS ARE STILL SEARCHING FOR CLUES INTO WHAT SPARKED A MASSIVE MARINA FIRE IN KINGSTON.
July 19, 2010
EVERY AVAILABLE FIRE TRUCK -- INCLUDING THE FIRE BOAT -- WAS SENT TO THE RIDEAU MARINA, ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CATARAQUI RIVER, SATURDAY AFTERNOON. NO ONE WAS INJURED -- BUT THE BLAZE CAUSED 75-THOUSAND DOLLARS IN DAMAGE. NEWSWATCH'S MAEGEN KULCHAR HAS MORE. PKG
"WE WATCHED THE WHOLE BUILDING COME DOWN, AND THE FLAMES WERE GREEN AT ONE POINT BECAUSE OF ALL THE CHEMICALS IN THE BUILDING" A MASSIVE FIRE RIPPED THROUGH A MAINTENANCE BUILDING AT THE RIDEAU MARINA ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CATARAQUI RIVER. THE FIRE BEGAN SHORTLY AFTER 3 O'CLOCK SATURDAY AFTERNOON - WITH JUST A WHISP OF SMOKE. "WE THOUGHT SOMEONE WAS BARBEQUING AND WE SAW SOME SMOKE TRICKLING OUT AND SOME PEOPLE WERE OUT BY THE BOAT DOCKS WHERE IT STARTED" FIRE AND RESCUE CREWS WORKED AGGRESSIVELY FOR 3 HOURS PUTTING OUT THE FIRE THAT FOLLOWED. IT STARTED UNDER THE DOCK AND QUICKLY SPREAD TO A 40-FOOT-LONGSTORAGE BUILDING. MAEGEN KULCHAR: "AS YOU CAN SEE BEHIND ME THIS IS JUST PART OF WHAT REMAINS AFTER A FIRE BROKE OUT HERE SATURDAY AFTERNOON" CKWS CAUGHT THESE IMAGES OF SMOKE BILLOWING FROM THE MARINA FROM OUR SKY-CAM... THE SMOKE AND HEAT WERE EXTREME -- AND AT THE HEIGHT OF THE BLAZE, THERE WERE AS MANY AS 40 FIREFIGHTERS ON THE SCENE. DEPUTY CHIEF GARY BULLOCK: "OUR MAIN CONCERN WAS THAT THE FIRE WAS GOING TO SPREAD FROM THE STORAGE BUILDING WHICH WAS ATTACHED TO THIS BOAT STORAGE BUILDING... AND THERE WAS SEVERAL BOATS DOCKED INSIDE AND WE WERE ABLE TO CUT THOSE BOATS LOOSE AND LET THEM FLOAT OUT INTO THE WATER IN THE EVENT THAT THE BUILDING DID COME INVOLVED IN THE FIRE" KINGSTON FIRE RESCUE ALSO BROUGHT IN THEIR NEWLY COMMISSIONED FIREBOAT - THE H.T. PATTERSON. BULLOCK: "THAT WAS INSTRUMENTAL TO BRINGING FINAL EXTINGUISHMENT TO THIS FIRE AND SAVING THE BOAT STORAGE BUILDING. IT PROVED ITS WORTH". LUCKILY, NO ONE WAS HURT IN THE FIRE -- AFTER A HEROIC EFFORT BY THE MARINA GAS ATTENDANT TO KEEP THE FLAMES FROM SPREADING. "HE USED AN EXTINGUISHER TO TRY TO PUT IT OUT, IT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL , USED ANOTHER EXTINGUISHER WAS UNS UCCESSFUL, USED A GARDEN HOSE AND WAS UNSUCCESSFUL AND EVENTUALLY 911 WAS CALLED AND FIRE CREWS RESPONDED". THE BUILDING - WHICH IS LARGELY UNUSED - WAS DESTROYED. FIRE CREWS 'WERE' ABLE TO SAVE THE ADJACENT BOAT STORAGE FACILITY- IT SUFFERED ONLY MINOR DAMAGE. DELBERT BLAKNEY: "WE ARE ESTIMATING DAMAGE AT 75 THOUSAND DOLLARS" FIRE INSPECTOR DELBERT BLAKENY SAYS THE FIRE APPEARED TO HAVE STARTED BENEATH THE DOCK. DELBERT BLAKENY: "AT THIS POINT OUR ONLY COMPETENT IGNITION POINT WOULD APPEAR TO BE ELECTRIC. AN ELECTRICAL LINE THAT RUNS TO THE BOATS TO SUPPLY THE BOATS WITH SHORE POWER" THE ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUTHORITY HAS BEEN CONTACTED TO HELP WITH THE INVESTIGATION. THE ONLY CASUALTIES IN THE BLAZE... WAS A FAMILY OF RACCOONS LIVING UNDER THE DOCK. WHETHER OR NOT A CHEWED WIRE SPARKED THE FIRE... IS STILL UNKNOWN. MAEGEN KULCHAR CKWS NEWSWATCH, KINGSTON.
