****SPECIAL EDITION****


 Saturday March 10

 Fort Pierce City Marina decided there was room for us to stay longer but we would have to move to another slip.  We just sat down after tying up at new slip when we heard a loud BOOM.  What the heck??  We looked up & saw flames across the dock & a few slips down from us.  A boat was on fire. We both ran for fire extinguishers.  Tim got his first & ran over to the fire.  Other boaters did the same.  They all determined it was no use.  A boat on one side of the fire quickly cut lines & pulled out.  The boat on the other side was not so lucky.  The wind was blowing the fire right on their boat.  The surrounding boats were quickly evacuated & people & dogs moved off the dock.  We pulled our lines & left the dock.  We floated in the harbor, waiting to see what would happen.  The fire department responded quickly & the flames were extinguished , but the coast guard would not allow us back in.  We found an empty slip & tied up.  We eventually contacted  the marina & were told to stay there for the night.  We returned to our slip the next day.  We were told one man was taken to the hospital with burns, but he would be okay.  No other casualties.  The boat burned to the water line.  The boat next to it was scorched.  Did I mention the new slip put us much closer to the exploding boat?!  Three slips away.

FIRE

VIEW FROM HARBOR

VIEW FROM HARBOR

THE AFTERMATH

THE AFTERMATH