DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --
A boat at a Daytona Beach yacht club was destroyed in a fire Saturday morning.
Members of the Daytona Beach Fire Department went to the Sunset Harbor Yacht Club on Ballough Road after smoke was reportedly seen coming from the boat at about 7:20 a.m. Firefighters said Patrick Armstrong was taking a shower at about that time, when he heard a loud explosion.
Firefighters said Patrick Armstrong was taking a shower at about that time, when he heard a loud explosion.
"He came out of the shower and noticed fire in the closet area of the boat," said Daytona Beach Battalion Chief Dru Driscoll.
Crews said Armstrong unsuccessfully battled the flames on his own, trying to save the $3 million Princess Lauren before calling 911.
"The delay kind of hurt our efforts to extinguish the fire," Driscoll said.
When crews were finally called, they said said they saw a dark column of black smoke coming from a yacht that was about 71 feet long.
Faced with several access issues, the fire crew said it was able to deploy hose lines to get water to the burning boat.
As common with shipboard firefighting, crews were faced with tremendous heat upon their initial attack, said Driscoll. With possible environmental issues, the crews used firefighting foam lines to help reduce water runoff.
Driscoll said crews were evacuated from the boat as it started to tip to one side, and bullets from Armstrong's handgun started flying.
"Those ammunitions began firing off with the heat, which was another reason for us having to evacuate," Driscoll said.
The U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have been notified.
There were no reported injuries.
It took seven hours for crews to get the fire under control from the outside. Firefighters were still putting out hotspots as of 6 p.m.
Crews said the yacht is touching the bottom of the ocean, so it won't sink any further. There's up to 1,000 gallons of fuel on board that has started to leak. Crews said they hope to contain it with barriers and foam.
The fire marshal will be back out in the next couple days to figure out how this boat fire started.
Yacht Destroyed In Fire In Daytona Beach
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