No one was injured
on Saturday in a fire which burned a pleasure boat down to the water, the
Porter Fire Department is reporting.
Fire Chief Jay
Craig told the Chesterton Tribune this morning that Porter
firefighters responded to Porter Beach at 1:56 p.m. and, on arrival,
observed a 24- to 30-foot boat with inboard motors smoking heavily
approximately 600 yards from shore. The PFD promptly called for a dive-team
response, uncertain whether anyone from the boat was in the water. No one,
however, was, as all passengers on the boat--Craig was unable to say exactly
how many--had been rescued and taken aboard a bystander’s boat.
Also responding to
the scene was the Portage FD’s fire boat, which extinguished the fire with
lake water. “Portage has a really nice fire boat with a great pump,” Craig
noted.
The cause of the
fire remains undetermined, as Craig never had an opportunity to speak with
the boat’s skipper or its occupants. Responding to the scene as well: the
U.S. Coast Guard, the Porter Police Department, Indiana Conservation
Officers, and National Park Service rangers. The PFD cleared the scene at
3:20 p.m.