Boat Burns Near Newport Bridge, Sinks

NEWPORT, RI—A boat caught fire and sank near Goat Island in Narragansett bay in eyeshot of the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge on Sunday.

Nobody was hurt, authorities said, but the boat was destroyed and had little chance as the nearest boat with firefighting capabilities able to respond was in Providence.

The fire broke out at around 2 p.m. and Portsmouth firefighters responded with limited firefighting capability aboard their Marine 2 rescue vessel.

Smoke from the fire could be seen by people traveling in cars on the Newport bridge.

The fire comes just as Newport is in the midst of a public debate about whether to approve a federal grant to pay 75 percent of the cost for a firefighting boat.

The City Council delayed a decision to approve the rant, which would enable the city to buy a boat valued at roughly $1 million for about $260,000. The city has already appropriated more than that amount in the current fiscal year for fire department asset purchases.

Critics of the plan—which would use about $750,000 of Federal Emergency Management Agency grant funds set aside for communities with important assets like ports, vital infrastructure and shipping lanes—are concerned about long-term costs associated with manning the boat and whether it would cause Newport to use additional resources in the bay.

Fire Chief Peter Connorton told the City Council last week that additional costs to staff the boat and ensure everyone is adequately trained would not be substantial. Additionally, Newport is already a member of the Narragansett Bay Marine Task Force—a coalition of cooperating local and state law enforcement agencies with marine assets—and its role would not change all that dramatically.

The fire chief noted that a recent boat fire near Hog Island was fought by members of the North Kingstown Fire Department. Mutual aid goes both way, he said, and the fire boat would protect all of the city's water assets, including the yachts and pleasure vessels vulnerable if there ever were a major fire accompanied by a stiff wind.

Photo by Firefighter Tim Gumkowski