One person hospitalized after boat catches fire in Vancouver’s False Creek
Posted September 8, 2023 6:40 am.
Last Updated September 10, 2023 6:27 pm.
Fire crews in Vancouver say one person has been hospitalized with severe burns after a fire broke out on a boat in False Creek Thursday afternoon.
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services Assistant Chief Ken Gemmill tells CityNews numerous calls of a “large vessel fire” came in around 5:15 p.m.
“It was about a 40-foot sailboat attached to a 35-foot pleasure craft attached to a little 20-foot running boat,” he said.
He says smoke and flames could be seen from the Quayside Marina in Yaletown.
Boat fire in False Creek
@VanFireRescue fire boat 1 on scene@IAFF18 pic.twitter.com/KR67p4slCV
— Karen Fry (@Karen_Fry) September 8, 2023
Two people were on the vessel, Gemmill says, who were helped to shore by other boaters in the water. He says one of the people was taken to Vancouver General Hospital for treatment of serious burns. Their condition is not known.
The assistant chief says it’s believed the fire was accidental, likely caused by cooking.
“Once wood and fibreglass gets going, it’s hard to put it out,” he noted.
With files from Emma Crawford
