Frozen pipes and a freight train hampered fighting Tri-Cities yacht club blaze
Icy docks, frozen water pipes and a freight train hindered Wednesday’s efforts to douse a fire that destroyed boathouses and boats at the Clover Island Yacht Club.
Still, firefighters were credited with keeping the flames from causing more destruction.
Fire crews spent Wednesday night monitoring the wreckage of two boathouses and two boats for any flareups, Kennewick Fire Chief Chad Michael said in a news release.
And work began to contain about 50 to 150 gallons of fuel spilled into the Columbia River.
The Port of Kennewick deployed a set of booms soon after the fire began. Absorbent pads also were used to help take some of the fuel off the water.
“There is still quite a bit of sheen in the water,” Ty Keltner, the communications manager for the Department of Ecology’s spills program, told the Herald.
It’s unclear at this point how long cleanup efforts will take, he said.
State officials met with the cleanup contractor, Clean Harbors, on Thursday morning. The project is complicated by some smoldering spots and efforts to investigate how the fire started.
As part of the clean up, the Clover Island boat launch will be closed until further notice.
The boathouses are privately-owned and connected to a dock that is owned by the yacht club. The island itself is owned by the Port of Kennewick.
The port leases the property to the yacht club, which has agreements with a series of boat owners who house their boats in private buildings, said Dave Hein, the incoming Clover Island Yacht Club commodore.
The club was founded in 1953 and has been part of the marina and Clover Island since.
Early yacht club fire
Hein learned about the fire about 10 minutes after someone called 911 at 7:30 a.m.
He was one of the first to the site and worked to make sure the owners were notified.
One club member supplied snacks for the firefighters who were battling the blaze.
It’s unclear what the next steps are for those who lost their boathouse and boats. He said they will have the opportunity to rebuild if they want.
While some of the properties look like homes, no one is allowed to live in the buildings, said Hein.
Port of Kennewick maintenance workers spotted the black smoke billowing from between two of the boathouses.
Firefighters were initially delayed by a train, which stopped the truck from getting to the man-made island from Washington Street. Instead, the truck had to divert to Gum Street.
When Kennewick’s ladder truck reached the scene, the firefighters discovered the standpipe system that is meant to supply water on the docks was frozen.
They moved to the nearest hydrant, which also didn’t work because of freezing conditions.
They were able to run a hose from another hydrant about 1,000 feet away, Deputy Fire Chief Michael Heffner told the Herald.
A Pasco fire boat also had to fight with the freezing conditions, Michael said. Initially, the firefighters weren’t able to pump water from the fire boat onto the fire.
“Fortunately, within a matter of minutes, Pasco’s boat crew rectified the problem,” Michael said.
The boat was able to reach areas that firefighters weren’t able to get close to.
While they weren’t able to save the two boathouses, they were able to keep the fire from spreading to the nearby buildings. There was some damage to the outside of the buildings.
Hein said it could have been worse.
Five houseboats were destroyed and six others damaged in a fire at The Dalles, Ore., marina in August.
Port of Kennewick CEO Tim Arntzen also praised the efforts of those responding to the blaze.
“The amount of inter-agency cooperation in responding to and containing the fire was impressive. From the dispatchers who took the 911 call, to the Kennewick Fire Department and Kennewick Police Department, to the prompt support from Richland Fire Department, Pasco Fire Department, and Benton County Sheriff’s Office — they moved quickly to choreograph an incredibly complex fire suppression response,” he said in a news release.
This story was originally published December 8, 2022 at 8:00 PM.