Two On Board Suffered Serious Burns
SALISBURY — Chief Scott Carrigan reports that the Salisbury Fire Department extinguished a boat fire Wednesday afternoon after a reported explosion occurred while a boat was docked at a filling station.
A man and woman, both in their 20s, suffered serious burns as a result of the incident and were transported by Atlantic Ambulance to Portsmouth Regional Hospital. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Salisbury Fire Department and State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
At approximately 3:50 p.m., Salisbury Fire responded to Bridge Marina, 180 Bridge Road, for a report of a boat fire. When firefighters arrived, the boat was fully engulfed in flames.
Firefighters quickly worked to begin putting out the flames and members of the Newburyport, Seabrook, Newbury and Amesbury fire departments responded to the scene to assist. The flames extended to the nearby filling station, but firefighters were able to extinguish the flames before significant damage was done to the station.
The initial investigation indicates that there were seven people aboard the boat. It is unclear if all seven were still onboard when the fire occurred. The uninjured parties were all safely on the dock when firefighters arrived at the scene.
The Massachusetts Environmental Police and United States Coast Guard also responded to the scene.
The boat sustained significant damage and was a total loss. It was not immediately clear what size or style of boat it was because the damage was so extensive.
The matter remains under active investigation.
“Thankfully our firefighters were able to stop this fire before it caused severe damage to the fueling station. This could have been a lot worse and we wish the two injured parties a speedy recovery,” Chief Carrigan said. “I want thank our neighboring departments who assisted us on this call.”
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