A motorized double-deckered fishing vessel that foundered against the rocks of the Frederiksted waterfront during Hurricane Earl burned up Wednesday morning, filling the town with acrid, chemical fumes of burning fiberglass.
The vessel’s name was partly obliterated by a missing panel on the stern of the roughly 30-foot boat.
It was reported stolen in Puerto Rico and had been recovered recently and moored off Frederiksted, according to Department of Planning and Natural Resources staff, who worked to tie up the vessel when it came loose from its mooring during the height of Earl’s winds early Monday afternoon.
The boat first caught fire sometime Tuesday, and fire trucks came out twice previously, spraying it down as well as they were able, according to V.I. Fire Services officials at the scene Wednesday morning.
"Once the fire is smoldering inside the fiberglass, it is very difficult to put out," said Fire Services Cpl. Keno Walcott. "Spraying water did not work; it just flowed off the surface. The foam can’t get inside the fiberglass where it is smoldering either, so we are just smothering it right now, hoping that will be enough to extinguish it completely."
The fire may have been started by leaking fuel coming into contact with damaged electrical equipment in the boat, Walcott said, adding that there was no official conclusion at that time.
Efforts to contact DPNR for details on the vessel’s history, name and owners were unsuccessful due to continuing difficulties with cell phone communication on St. Croix Wednesday.
All that was left of the vessel as of noon Wednesday was the bottom of the hull, up to about the nominal waterline.