Police are investigating after a fire broke out at the Anchorage Marina in Canton, in the US city of Baltimore, damaging several boats and sinking at least one.

Several boats were on fire when the Baltimore Fire Department (BFD) arrived on Wednesday (31 January 2024), with the worst damage to two 17-metre vessels.

Units arrived on location to find heavy fire and smoke coming from multiple vessels docked at the marina. Concerns were raised when reports surfaced about propane tanks being on one of the vessels.

An unidentified man and his dog were on board one of the boats that caught fire, but both were able to get out unharmed, and there were no reported injuries to civilians or firefighters during the incident.

Speaking to WBAL-TV, BFD spokesperson Kevin Cartwright said that, after nearly an hour of fighting the fire, one of the vessels sank after burning through a rope, with the other “completely burned and still remaining afloat.”

Some of the vessels had been wrapped in plastic for winter, which provided extra concern over the fire’s spread and the toxicity of the smoke.

Baltimore marina fire courtesy Baltimore Fire Department (4)

A recovery operation on the sunk boat has been started to mitigate further pollution.

“As fuel is released from these boats, you want to be able to absorb it. Once we have that under control, at some point in time, there’ll be a salvage team that’ll come in and attempt to salvage that boat that’s on the bottom,” Baltimore Fire Department chief James Wallace told WJZ-TV.

The fire reportedly broke out on the marina’s B dock, which had new wiring, plumbing and decks installed during a rebuild in spring 2023.

All images courtesy of Baltimore City Fire Department.

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