PORT TOWNSEND — A boat that caught fire Monday remained docked in the Port Townsend Boat Haven on Tuesday.
Six people were rescued unharmed from the 32-foot trawler Kloshie Bay after the boat caught fire in the water off North Beach.
The cause of the fire is unknown. No investigation is under way, said Bill Beezley, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman and Petty Officer Jonathan Klingenberg of the Coast Guard.
“It’s an accident,” Beezley said, noting it was on a private vessel and that no one was hurt.
Klingenberg said that the Coast Guard will inspect the vessel — which has no visible external damage — when it has been repaired to ensure it is seaworthy.
At 4:33 p.m., East Jefferson Fire-Rescue received a call from the captain of the Kloshie Bay, saying that the boat was on fire and it was attempting to make land, according to Beezley.
During the distress call, the captain — identified in Port of Port Townsend records as Dean Rollings of Port Townsend — said two adults and four children were aboard the vessel.
None but the captain have been identified.
The captain could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
All the occupants were rescued uninjured by emergency personnel who arrived only minutes after the distress call, Beezley said, adding that the boat’s captain was simultaneously attempting to fight the fire and operate the vessel.
The first to arrive on the scene was the Coast Guard cutter Sea Fox at about 4:45 p.m., followed by Guardian, the East Jefferson Fire-Rescue boat with a crew of four firefighters and Assistant Chief Brian Tracer and a smaller Coast Guard vessel.
Fire personnel boarded the vessel and extinguished the fire, which had originated inside the boat’s walls, Beezley said.
The response vessels met up with Kloshie Bay about one mile offshore of North Beach and Fort Worden State Park, where the trawler had come to a stop.
Two firefighters from Guardian boarded Kloshie Bay, and began breaking through bulwarks below deck to reach the fire, Beezley said.
The fire was declared out at 5:19 p.m.
The four children were transferred from Kloshie Bay to Guardian, while two adults remained aboard the vessel.
Vessel Assist was summoned to the scene and took Kloshie Bay, under tow to the Port of Port Townsend, with Guardian and the four children following.
There was no reported fuel spill associated with the incident. Beezley said.
