Updated: Fire crews rushed to a boat fire under the Ballard Bridge last night.
The call came in at 10 p.m. of smoke near the south end of the bridge. As you can see from these amazing photos by My Ballard reader Rob Senita, firefighters arrived on scene to find a 25-30 foot boat heavily involved in flames.
Firefighters navigated the dock and knocked down the flames quickly, but they spent another 45 minutes working to put out the hot spots.
A man in his 40’s who appears to be the boat’s owner was found an hour later wandering several docks away, according to a Seattle Fire spokesperson. He was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. The injuries are not life-threatening. Investigators are still on scene this morning.
12:15 p.m. update: Dana Vander Houwen, spokeswoman for the Seattle Fire Department, says that investigators believe the accidental fire was caused by combustible material being placed too close to a portable space heater. The damage estimate is $31,500.
(Thanks Rob for the photos and Silver and Amy for the tips!)