PORT ANGELES — A 70-foot pleasure craft that caught fire and sank near Destruction Island on Friday left no sign of a fuel spill, a Coast Guard spokesman said this week.
Coast Guard crews rescued the owner of the La Pietra, David Roach, 56, and his unidentified wife after the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based vessel caught fire west of the island off Ruby Beach in West Jefferson County.
The La Pietra was said to be carrying as much as 600 gallons of diesel fuel, although the exact amount was never confirmed.
“There was no sign of sheen,” Coast Guard spokesman Jordan Akiyama said Wednesday.
The fire began in the vessel’s engine, Coast Guard officials said.
Fire began in engine
The Coast Guard received the distress call from the La Pietra at 12:58 p.m.
A lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Quillayute River and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from the Coast Guard station in Port Angeles were deployed.
Emergency medical personnel at Station Quillayute River in LaPush treated Roach for smoke inhalation.
“The wife was fine,” Akiyama said Wednesday.
“The male, however, reportedly suffered smoke inhalation because he tried to fight the fire.”
Rescue tug sent
The rescue tug Jeffrey Ross, based in Neah Bay, was deployed to the burning vessel, which sank before the tug arrived.
The boat’s owner is working with his insurance company to salvage the vessel, Akiyama said.
