Boatyard blaze inquiry: cause ‘undetermined’
An investigation into a blaze that destroyed half of a St George’s boatyard almost a year ago concluded that the cause of the fire was “undetermined”.
The Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service report completed in May was released in response to a public access to information request by Gilbert Artie Darrell, a former BFRS advisory board member and former New York State firefighter.
The released documents, which are partially redacted, included interviews with fire officers, the co-owners of the Boatport Boat Storage facility on Wellington Slip Road and vessel owners.
They also included weather reports, photographs and other findings.
The findings noted that at 2.50am on December 14 last year, the BFRS’s central fire dispatch received a report of fire at the facility. Throughout the incident, a total of 14 vehicles were dispatched.
About 50 boats were destroyed as well as the steel racks they were stored on, the report said.
The area of origin of the fire was determined to have been at the bottom of the eastern side of the northern boat rack at the facility.
A divisional officer of the BFRS — whose name was redacted in the released records — wrote to Dana Lovell, the Chief Fire Officer, on June 4, and said: “Based on the interviews and the evidence at the scene, I have concluded the following: the area of origin was on the bottom tier on the left; due to the fire load in the area, the fire grew rapidly and consuming content in its path; the boatyard is partially secured via fencing and gate locks …
“The National Fire Protection Association defines undetermined fire as such, ‘whenever the cause cannot be proven, the proper classification is undetermined’.
“In view of the foregoing and lack of evidence to conclude otherwise, it is my considered opinion that the case of the fire is undetermined and will be officially recorded as such.”
A co-owner of the boatyard, whose name was also redacted, said in the report that when he left the premises before the blaze, between 2.30pm and 3pm in the afternoon, “everything was in order”.
He confirmed that there were no signs of fire at that time and that the property had been secured with locked gates.
The co-owner said that none of the boats in the area where the fire began were plugged into any shore power and that all batteries were turned off before the boats were stored on the racks.
After the fire was reported to the BFRS, the officer in charge of fire appliance Clearwater 1 said he responded with four personnel from Clearwater Fire Station, and arrived at the scene by 3.03am to find multiple boats on fire.
Records showed that weather conditions at the time of the incident were “a light drizzle but very windy”.
It was said that due to the wind conditions, “the fire quickly advanced to the other sections of the rack”.
In a letter to the Chief Fire Officer, the officer in charge of CW1 said that after officers forcibly entered the property using bolt cutters to access the dock, the fire spread “rapidly” in a westerly direction.
The Acting Sergeant wrote: “Upon arrival of the duty central and central 3 [fire appliances], they were instructed to secure a water source, CW1 had used all of its water supply.
“Once the water source was secured, we had to evacuate the dock as the fire had spread rapidly and it was unsafe to continue firefighting where we were set up.
“At this point, control of the scene was taken over by the ACFO [Acting Chief Fire Officer] and DO [divisional officer] for the remainder of the incident.”
One firefighter said: “Duty central and central 3 arrived and were trying actively to provide water.
“Minutes later we were instructed by DO to fall back as the fire had now fully engulfed the entire boat rack structure.”
Another said that “once the truck ran out of water, it didn’t take very long before the whole boat rack was completely involved”.
Boat owners who were interviewed confirmed that their vessels were not in the process of being charged at the time the fire broke out.
While thunderstorms were forecast, it could not be ascertained whether lightning caused the fire.
The Bermuda Weather Service forecast at the time said that thunderstorms were expected through the day of December 13 and later extended into the evening and early night.
Records showed that BWS said: “Based on observations at our station at the LF Wade International Airport … thunderstorms were only observed near the airport around 4pm on the 13th.
“Based on further hourly reports, clouds remained more stratiform indicative of dynamic precipitation rather than convective precipitation, where thunderstorms are observed.
“However, as our hourly reports are guided towards the aerodrome which spans 8km and its vicinity, which spans 8km to 16km, we are unable to confirm or deny thunderstorms outside of that range unfortunately.”
The records revealed that when the boatyard owners were applying for planning permission in January to restore the boat rack, the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service highlighted that the facility’s fire certificate had expired.
While no objection was offered on the project by the BFRS, the service did highlight that the boatyard needed to renew the certificate.
The certificate was applied for and approved.
In an e-mail, a BFRS divisional officer said that as part of the fire plan, “a sign should be erected/mounted that is clearly identifiable and states ‘Boatyard Assembly Point’.
“Additionally, all staff members/guests to the premises should know where the assembly point is.
“All boat owners who store or work on their watercraft should be apprised of the evacuation procedures as well.
“I would suggest putting some fire extinguishers mounted in weatherproof cabinets down on the floating dock as well as a preventive measure should one be needed.”
The report was submitted by the Chief Fire Officer to the boatyard on May 15.
BFRS did not release the report to the general public until the Pati request was approved.
Mr Darrell, who submitted his request on June 11, said: “I was concerned because these fire reports are important for public record and to make sure that we're learning as a community on what actions we should take to prevent disasters such as this in the future.”
William Lawrence, a co-owner of the boatyard, said that he was looking into having fire retardant foam on site and that a fire plan was in place to ensure the safety of everyone on the property in case a similar event happened again.
He told The Royal Gazette: “We are taking all the steps that we can identify to have early detection and assist the department if they ever needed to be called out again.
“We are going to put up cameras and the whole place will be monitored. The cameras are AI and will pick up smoke and fire.
“We have lightning rod protection on the two racks and we are making progress on finding foam that can be used in the future.
“I suppose we have put it behind us.
“We are two-thirds full on the new rack already. The customers are coming back.”
• To view some of the records released, see Related Media
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