The commercial fishing boat Midnight Hour caught fire in Naknek’s LMI boatyard on May 21. No injuries were reported.
Boatyard Manager Micaela Emory-Wilson said the fire started around 12:30 p.m. She was at home when she got a call from someone at the office.
“By the time I showed up the whole cab was, like, engulfed and everyone was scrambling around,” she said.
Emory-Wilson said fishermen on a neighboring boat tried to put the fire out with extinguishers and garden hoses while others tried to contact the fire department. But she said GCI customers in Naknek have had trouble calling landlines from their cell phones.
“So no one could get through to 911. The call kept dropping,” she said.
One bystander was eventually able to call 911 from a landline, and the Bristol Bay Borough Fire Dept. arrived shortly after.
GCI spokesperson Heather Handyside said in an email that the company has had three "mobile-to-landline" outages in Naknek this month due to an issue with equipment — on May 3 - 4, May 13 - 15, and May 21 - 23.
"We believe we have resolved this issue and don’t expect future interruptions for mobile-to-landline service," Handyside said.
Emory-Wilson said a neighboring boat downwind of the fire was damaged. Its windows cracked from the heat, and some bumpers and hydraulic lines melted, though the boat’s structure remained intact. A crew member who was on that boat was able to get away uninjured.
“Once the flames got big, the wind was blowing towards his boat. So the flames were next to where his ladder was," she said. "But luckily, he was able to find the ladder on like another neighboring boat’s connex, and he was able to get down.”
Emory-Wilson has worked at the boatyard for six years, and this is the biggest fire she’s seen yet. She said she wants to refine their protocols for fire response and address some safety issues. For instance, the boatyard’s water line doesn’t connect to the fire trucks.
“That wasn't really an issue because the fire department did so good," she said. "There was already a truck behind the one that was filling the main truck. There was already one on standby when that one was empty.”
While that wasn’t a problem this time, Emory-Wilson said, she wants to set up a system to get uninterrupted water in emergencies.
Emory-Wilson didn't know exactly what had caused the fire. The fire department didn't immediately respond to calls requesting an interview.
The fishermen of the F/V Midnight Hour are staying in crew housing for the time being. They still hope to fish on another boat this summer.
Get in touch with the author at izzy@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
