Updated at 10:15 a.m. Sept. 30, 2017
A fire that tore through a docked commercial fishing and research ship near Seaport Village continued to smolder Saturday.
The blaze initially erupted for unknown reasons inside the 120-foot Norton Sound at about 9:30 a.m. Friday.
It was unclear if anyone was aboard the vessel when the fire broke out. Firefighters initially battled the flames from inside, finding no victims, but were ordered to pull out because of the intensity of the fire inside the boat after about a half-hour.
The fire seemed to mostly burn itself out, then flared up again later in the day. The interior of the vessel continued to burn throughout Friday and into early Saturday.
One firefighter was taken to a hospital for treatment of heat exhaustion late Friday morning and released about 5 p.m. the same day, San Diego Fire- Rescue Department spokesperson Monica Munoz said.
Firefighters stayed on scene all night to monitor the ship, rotating every three hours, according to Munoz. Crews also checked the mooring lines every hour to ensure they did not burn, she said.
Munoz said Saturday the boat’s condition remained the same.
The boat’s owner was contacted Friday and told authorities he was on his way, but had not yet contacted authorities as of 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Munoz said.
Firefighters do not have an estimate on when the blaze will be put out, Munoz said.
–City News Service