1 person rescued after boat catches fire in Elliott Bay

A private boater came to the rescue of a person who ended up in chilly Elliott Bay after an explosion and fire erupted on their boat.

Coast Guard reserve crews from Station Seattle responded after the fire broke out on a small pleasure boat near Duwamish Head Light, east of the Don Armeni Boat Ramp in West Seattle.

Photos posted by the Coast Guard show huge flames erupting from the entire length of the boat.

The person on board made it off safely and was not injured, but only after jumping into the cold water.

A crew on a Seattle Fire boat also responded and reported most of the fire was knocked down after a few minutes.

(Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard)

“Anytime there is a fire on a boat it is difficult to attack,” said Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Kaila Lafferty.  “In this case the fire started under the deck.  They were able to put out the big flames by using water.”

Three Seattle Fire Department boats responded to the emergency, including four firefighters aboard Fire Boat Three, a rescue boat and Patrol Boat Four.

They also used a pump to try to prevent the vessel from sinking.

Coast Guard officials said another good Samaritan boat was helping their efforts.

“A private vessel was able to give the person that was in the water a warm shower,” Lafferty said.  “That person ended up declining any medical treatment.”

Fire officials say the quick response was due to alert witnesses who saw the flames and immediately called for help.

“This is a great example of ‘see something, say something,'” Lafferty said.  “They saw something out of place, smoke and flames coming from a vessel, which allowed us to respond with a fire boat right away.”

Tom Brock is a reporter, editor and anchor at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Tom’s stories here.