Sitka firefighters spent two hours extinguishing a blaze aboard a fishing vessel in Crescent Harbor late Tuesday night (8-20-24).
Fire Chief Craig Warren says the call came in shortly before 10 p.m. that the 42-foot fishing vessel Unimak was on fire while it was under tow just outside the Sitka airport.
The Unimak was brought to Crescent and fire crews boarded the vessel and found a fire burning in the engine block. Eleven firefighters used extinguishers and a harbor pump to knock down the fire. They remained on scene over two hours.
Damage to the Unimak is estimated at $20,000. An investigation concluded that the fire began when heat from the boat’s exhaust ignited nearby wood.
