A suspicious fire Monday morning destroyed eight barges docked in Mayberry Slough, ending the owner's dream of using them to build floating homes.
Standing on a levee road overlooking the smoldering remains, barge owner Donald Ratts surveyed the damage.
"This is the worst day of my life," Ratts said. "I've lost everything."
The fire was reported about 8 a.m. in the slough, adjacent to Sherman Island and about a mile west of the Antioch bridge. The burning fiberglass and wood vessels sent up billows of black smoke and kept students at two nearby Oakley schools indoors.
Two fire boats, one from the East Contra Costa Fire District and the other from the Vallejo Fire Department, had the flames contained by about 11 a.m., though some hot spots continued to smolder four hours later.
In all, 12 barges were moored together in the slough when the blaze erupted. As the fire raged, two broke free; one floated away in flames, forcing a fire boat to chase it down, while the other ran aground nearby.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Contra Costa Sheriff's marine patrol Deputy Ethan Katz said. "There is no electricity out here or obvious source of ignition," he said. "It's definitely a suspicious fire; arson is a possibility."
A Coast Guard pollution unit found some fiberglass and Styrofoam debris floating at the site, but no oil or gasoline leaked into the water, said Lt. Kelly Thorkilson.
Katz said firefighters' immediate concern was whether toxic products were ablaze on the barges.
"We wanted to minimize the hazard to people and wildlife," he said.
Greg Hetrick, principal at Delta View Middle School in Oakley, said the school voluntarily kept students indoors after receiving a call from Contra Costa health officials regarding smoke from the fire.
"We always err on the side of caution," he said.
The shelter-in-place was called off about 12:30 p.m. when health officials could no longer see or smell the smoke, Hetrick said.
The Coast Guard also set up a safety zone within a mile radius of the fire, allowing no boats inside the area from the Antioch Bridge west to Kimball Island.
The barges, described as similar to floating storage boxes, have been docked in the slough for about 18 months. Katz said one of the surviving vessels had two cars inside, but the rest of the cargo was largely unknown.
Ratts said he had planned to use some of the barges to build "floating homes."
"That's not going to happen now," he said. "Now, I have to figure out how to clean up this mess and move on."
Distributed by the Associated Press
