The smell of smoke still heavy in the air, two fire-ravaged vessels bobbed quietly on Gull Pond in Greenport this morning.
Surveying the scene, property owner Paul Ahlers described the blaze that broke out just after 9 p.m. last night, destroying a boat that belongs to friends that were visiting him and had tied up at his dock.
“We were just sitting down to dinner when we smelled smoke,” Ahlers said. In the time it took to dial 911, he said, the boat was ablaze. “Within three minutes it was totally engulfed. It was scary.” The entire upper portion of the boat was destroyed in the fire.
Cleanup of diesel fuel continued this morning Miller Environmental.
Surveying the wreckage, Ahlers said the important thing was that no one was hurt. “This can be replaced,” he said.
According to Southold Town Police, members of the Greenport and Southold Fire departments, as well as Southold Police and the Suffolk County arson squad, responded to a report of a boat fire located at a Gull Pond dock.
The Catherine Ann, a 42-foot Silverton with diesel engines owned by Robert Ainbinder, 61, of Northport, caught fire shortly after 9 p.m., police said. The boat was fully involved before the first units arrived and the intense heat ignited a second boat, a 22-foot Proline owned by Andrew Monaco, 62, of Kings Park, which was tied at the same dock, police said.
The Catherine Ann sank as a result of the fire and is now resting on the bottom, police said. A significant amount of diesel fuel spilled into the waterway; Coast Guard officers responded and a spill team from Miller Environmental was dispatched to the scene for oil containment and cleanup, police said.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and is currently under investigation, police said. No injuries were reported.
