An investigation into an early morning fire that gutted the interior of a boat Wednesday has been turned over to Nanaimo RCMP.
Firefighters responded shortly before 1 a.m. to snuff out the fire that started inside a six-metre-long fibreglass boat stored on a trailer in the back of a property at 413 Selby St.
Capt. Ennis Mond, Nanaimo Fire Rescue fire prevention officer, said the boat was covered with a tarp and had been stored there for a number of years.
Mond couldn't determine exactly what sparked the blaze, but deemed it suspicious when none of the usual causes, such as electrical malfunctions, were found.
"There was nothing plugged into the boat," Mond said. "It didn't have batteries in it. There's nothing in the boat that would have ignited itself to get the fire going."
No one was injured and the boat was not insured.