Port Washington marina fire destroys 2 houseboats, smaller boats
PORT WASHINGTON (WABC) -- Two houseboats and a smaller boat were destroyed in a raging fire at a marina on Long Island overnight Monday.
The Port Washington fire department responded to a call of a boat fire in the Haven Marina on Manhasset Bay in Port Washington just after 2 a.m.
Upon arrival, they located a fully-involved houseboat.
The fire then spread to another houseboat and four smaller boats.
In total, eight fire departments and 150 firefighters responded to the scene.
There were three injuries, all to adult civilians.
They suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to a local hospital for treatment, and they are all expected to be OK.
The boat where the fire started was a total loss and sunk. The other boats suffered various degrees of damage.
Houseboat owner George Martin, 64, talked about his and his wife's amazing escape.
"We had just gone to bed, it was kind of late," he said. "I just heard something, felt something, whatever. I sat up and looked, and the corner of my closet was on fire. It was burning. We ran upstairs. She grabbed her cell phone. She was calling 911. We had a big fire extinguisher. I grabbed that, and when I pulled the pin, the handle fell apart. So I couldn't use it. And then it started catching faster, and so we ran out. We are not smokers. We don't have matches. We don't have lighters, any of that stuff."
Martin does use propane to heat the boat, but he still says he has absolutely no idea how the fire started.
The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time, and the investigation will be conducted when the houseboat is raised.
