Crews put out boat fire on land in South Wellington

A fire at a property in South Wellington could have been much worse if weren’t for some alert neighbours.

According to Ron Gueulette, Cranberry Volunteer Fire Department chief, firefighters responded to a blaze in the 2200 block of Main Road in South Wellington at around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. He said crews arrived to find a 16- to 18-foot boat parked on the driveway on fire.

“It didn’t take very long [to extinguish],” he said. “We used a compressed air-foam attack on it and knocked it down pretty quick.”

Gueulette said the owners weren’t home at the time of the fire and that it was neighbours who called 911.

“There was some maintenance being done on the boat during the day and I don’t know who was doing the maintenance or anything like that but the owners went out for supper and the neighbours saw the boat catch on fire and burst into flames,” he said.

Crews are still working to determine the cause of the fire. Gueulette said there were “a lot of gas cans and propane tanks” around the boat and that some vinyl on the nearby house melted as a result of the fire.

“It could have been a lot worse but we got there pretty quick and managed to knock it out,” Gueulette said.

Neighbors house almost went up, and they aren't home. Thank god, for good Neighbors #Fire #Nanaimo #SouthWellington pic.twitter.com/EQlkrPBF9m

— Islander250 (@islandr250) August 7, 2019