British Columbia

Fire destroys 3 fibreglass boats at Vancouver's Granville Island Marina

Officials are investigating a Sunday overnight fire at Vancouver's Granville Island Marina that destroyed three boats.

Officials say fire at Pelican Bay Marina broke out around 2 a.m. Sunday

A large fire is seen on the water in a city, with emergency lights flashing and a large plume of smoke visible.
A suspicious fire at the Granville Island Marina destroyed 3 boats overnight on Sunday, according to officials. (Jan Bevilacqua/Twitter)

Officials are investigating a fire that broke out on Vancouver's Granville Island Marina overnight Sunday and destroyed three boats.

Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services (VFRS) says the fire started around 2 a.m. Sunday at the popular tourist spot, which offers a place for boats to dock throughout the year. It's officially known as the Pelican Bay Marina.

The fire department says three 12-metre-long fibreglass boats, which were moored alongside each other, were gutted by the blaze.

A 9 a.m. PT on Sunday, Keith Stewart, assistant fire chief with VFRS, said that investigators were still working to determine the cause of the fire. No injuries were reported.

A blue boat marked 'Vancouver Police' sits moored at a dock next to a white boat which has clearly been burned and charred.
A Vancouver police boat was on the scene Sunday after a fire gutted three boats at the Granville Island Marina. (Joel Law/CBC)

"All three boats sustained heavy damage ... they were tied together," he said. "One of the boats was taking on some water."

Stewart says the service's fire boat was pressed into action Sunday and ground crews responded as well.

The Canadian Coast Guard was helping out with cleanup operations Sunday, according to Stewart.

In a statement, the coast guard said there was debris on the water early Sunday morning due to the fire.

"One vessel has sunk," a spokesperson said. "We have deployed boom around the vessels to contain any marine pollution and debris.

"We are working with the owners of the three vessels on next steps to prevent further pollution and remove the vessels from the marina environment."

CBC News has also reached out to the Vancouver Police Department to try to get more details on the incident.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Akshay Kulkarni

Journalist

Akshay Kulkarni is an award-winning journalist who has worked at CBC British Columbia since 2021. Based in Vancouver, he is most interested in data-driven stories. You can email him at akshay.kulkarni@cbc.ca.