A tugboat fire at the end of Sechelt’s public dock in Trail Bay drew multiple fire departments, ambulance, RCMP and members of the coast guard on Wednesday, June 24.
“We responded to the tugboat Westview Chinook for a fire below deck,” Sechelt Volunteer Fire Department member Dwight Davison told Coast Reporter after the incident.
“Both crew members utilized the onboard fire extinguishers but couldn’t fully extinguish the fire. They radioed coast guard for assistance and a second tugboat assisted them to the dock where Sechelt fire department took control of the incident. Neither of the crew members was hurt.”
Davison said the Sechelt Volunteer Fire Department was called to the scene at about 4:30 p.m., responding with four trucks and 20 firefighters. Crews from Halfmoon Bay and Roberts Creek also came to assist.
“The fire was located below the deck and was tough to extinguish due to high heat and confined space within the tug. We utilized high expansion foam to extinguish the fire,” Davison said, noting the fire was caused by an electrical issue onboard the tugboat.
“No firefighters were injured and no contaminants were spilled into the ocean. Coast guard did deploy a spill protection boom as a proactive measure.”
Firefighters fully extinguished the fire and left the scene at 9:30 p.m.
