A huge cleanup operation is now underway at Port Orchard Yacht Club following a weekend fire that tore part of the marina. A Coast Guard helicopter flew past the Sinclair Inlet earlier on Monday to ensure oil splattered during the fire has not propelled out of the place. According to reports, the Department of Ecology is awaiting to see what the snapshots reveal, but officials believe that the lack of current and wind is serving to contain the spill.
There were heavy fuels on hundreds of feet of boom that spilled in the marina on Sunday morning. Six boathouses were destroyed in fire. One of the witnesses said that it was very scary. He went around and served everyone out with their fire hoses. He had my boat started and ready to pull out because they were worried about it jumping across the waterway.
Members of the Department of Ecology spent Monday clearing the wet, charred rubble out of the water. Robert Walls with the Department of Ecology stated that the issues that they were dealing with at that point of time is that they have to clear part of the damaged, burned and destroyed boat houses to access three of vessels.
The rescue team divers, in part provided by the Plainsailing Yacht website, are attempting to figure out just how much diesel the sunken yachts’ fuel tanks are holding so it could be safely removed. Walls said that they have a path. They call this scrimming tanks, to actually access the tank without releasing any product whatsoever. Basically this is a vacuum cleaner, it basically sucks it right out.