1 person injured, 3 boats sink in fire at Port of Everett

EVERETT — A boat caught fire as it readied to pull into a slip at the Port of Everett on Saturday evening.

The flames quickly spread, driving everyone on board into the water. The fire spread to nearby boats, burning five by the time firefighters had the blaze under control.

Firefighters rushed to the marina and poured water on the five boats in flames. With water raining down and flames burning, three boats sank, said Tim Key, acting Everett fire chief.

All five vessels were heavily damaged, he said.

Black smudges of smoke filled the evening sky over Everett, and were visible for miles. Haze and acrid smoke filled the port’s marina, which holds hundreds of sailboats and powerboats.

In all, five people jumped in the water. One person suffered minor injuries and was treated by emergency personnel at the marina.

The people were visibly shaken and wet, but walked away from the fire.

A boat appeared to be pulling into an open slip when there was a loud boom, said Tom Taylor, who was standing on his own boat moored a short distance away. “Then (a man on board) yelled, ‘Everyone off the boat! Everyone jump!’”

The boat moved toward other moored vessels, said Cody Sims, of Lynnwood. He watched the event unfold from the next dock, where his own boat was tied up.

Flames quickly consumed the craft. “The boat caught the sailboat beside it,” Sims said. “It melted the mast, and it fell over.”

Patricia Halsey smelled plastic burning before she saw the flames from her boat, which was tied up a couple of docks east of the fire. A few minutes later, dark smoke swirled overhead.

“I got out of there like a bat out of hell,” only slowing down to grab her cat, Halsey said.

Specks of soot dotted her husband’s white shirt.