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Firefighters battle ‘dangerous’ blaze on fully fuelled boat on land in rural Nanaimo

Incident happened in East Wellington on Saturday, July 16

Firefighters in rural Nanaimo extinguished a dangerous blaze after a fully fuelled boat caught fire late this morning.

East Wellington Fire Department crew responded to call of the boat fire at Steve Ellis Road at approximately 11 a.m. Saturday, July 16. David LeNeveu, East Wellington Fire Department deputy fire chief, said crews knocked the fire down in less than five minutes and took half an hour to “fully make sure it was safe.”

“We got a call in from dispatch that there was a boat on fire in the district and thankfully we were able to get here in a quick amount of time and none of the fuel tanks exploded and none of the fuel inside the boat exploded, so we were able to put it out quickly,” said LeNeveu. “It was an extremely dangerous situation, just because the homeowner had just filled the entire boat up in preparation on going out on the lake today … thankfully the members were in the district.”

LeNeveu estimated the boat would be a write-off and said it was beneficial that it was away from vegetation and the house. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, he said.

“It’ll be under investigation,” said LeNeveu.

READ ALSO: East Wellington firefighter rescues driver from burning car



reporter@nanaimobulletin.com

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Karl Yu

About the Author: Karl Yu

After interning at Vancouver Metro free daily newspaper, I joined Black Press in 2010.
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