[StBernard] Chalmette boat destroyed by suspicious fire

[Westley Annis]

Chalmette boat destroyed by suspicious fire

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: Aug 21, 2006

CHALMETTE - A shrimp boat seen by visitors and on television nationally
after Hurricane Katrina was heavily damaged by a suspicious fire in the
Chalmette neighborhood where it was stranded by the receding storm surge,
the St. Bernard Parish Fire Department said.

Firefighters were called to the fire at 10 p.m. Friday and needed 12 hours
to extinguish the blaze.

The 65-foot trawler gained a place on the list of things to see when
visiting officials and tourists came to view Katrina destruction,
Deputy Chief Glenn Ellis said. Tourists were taking pictures of the boat
Saturday morning before firefighters were finished putting out the blaze, he
said.

Ellis said the boat, which bore the names Dolphin and Father's Day, served
as the backdrop for many national and local television broadcasts.

The fiberglass in the boat burned fiercely and the fire was fed by an
unknown amount of fuel in the 800-gallon tank, along with hydraulic fluids
in winches and various oils. Firefighters were also hampered by a broken
fire hydrant.

In the end, firefighters brought in a backhoe Saturday morning to break open
parts of the boat where the fire was burning in spots hidden below deck,
Ellis said. Prior attempts to cut holes in the hull did not succeed. The
fire finally was declared out at 10:02 a.m.

The rear port section of the boat burned completely, and the boat was a
total loss, Ellis said.

Ellis said the boat was thought to have come from somewhere around the
Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet.

The storm surge apparently carried it through the marshland of Bayou
Bienvenue and across the levee of the 40-Arpent Canal.
Other smaller boats also washed across the levee.

Story originally published in The Advocate

  
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