By: Jingwei Zhao

On August 5, two people were killed and three sustained injuries from a fire that came from a 35-foot power boat, according to a report from the Long Beach Fire Department. Officials say that the flames occurred near a fueling dock in the Alamitos Bay in the 200 block of Marina Drive. The two people that died in the commotion were both women in their 60s, and three that were injured were also all in their 60s, two men and one woman. They were quickly sent to a nearby hospital and their burn-related injuries were carefully treated.

Long Beach Fire Captain Jake Heflin stated that the firefighters responded to the calls and rushed to the scene at around 5:17 p.m. They quickly dispatched the fire engines and safety boats. While bystanders were attempting to splash the flames out, they told the rescue workers that the pleasure craft was fueling at the time, but officials have yet to identify the original cause of the fire, according to Fire Captain Heflin. He also mentioned that the firefighters “knocked a good portion of the fire out,” but they still called the county firefighting support to make sure that the blaze did not spread onto any other boats or the fueling dock by the wind.

The fire sent huge clouds of black smoke up into the air, visible for miles on end, while the firefighters beat out the flames. Daniel Quinn, one of the hosts of a nearby Crab Pot restaurant, said that he heard some sort of explosion “like someone landed on the roof.” He then took further notice of the situation and reported, “There was a big bang and I looked up, and there was this ginormous plume of black smoke.”

To minimize any environmental damage, Heflin and his firefighter crew placed booms around the boat. However, when the rescue workers dragged the boat onto the isolation dock, it slowly started to fill up with water and was partially submerged, so now Long Beach officials plan to use a private salvage company to bring the boat back on land.