Fire Destroys Boat; Damages Home

An 18-foot boat used for bass fishing burst into flames Wednesday afternoon in a residential neighborhood near Broening Highway, damaging the boat owner’s home as well as a next-door neighbor’s property. No one was injured in the blaze.

Kelly Comer, of the unit block of Centre Avenue, said he was at work Wednesday when he received a phone call about the fire.

“My daughter had just gotten off the school bus,” he said.

The boat in Comer’s driveway was worth about $28,000, he said. Another $12,000 in fishing gear and tackle was lost in the fire.

Comer said his boat had just been filled with 50 gallons of fuel in preparation for a weekend bass fishing tournament on the Potomac. He said the battery was charging and connected to the home Wednesday.

“That’s the only thing I can think of,” Comer said. “The boat’s been sitting all winter, so you have to do that.”

Firefighers struggled to put the fuel fire out with water, and ultimately used foam to get control of the blaze, Comer said.

Ed Jacobs, a neighbor, said he initially tried to pull the boat out of the driveway and away from the house by hand after the fire began, but the boat was caught behind a pile of bricks. Jacobs then got his truck, hoping to pull the boat from the driveway, but by the time he’d returned the fire was too intense.

The home next door to Comer’s had its fence damaged and siding partially melted from the flames.

The Comer family dog ran into its open cage during the fire, and later was removed unharmed. Comer was preparing to board up the home Wednesday afternoon and said he and his family planned to spend the night at a hotel. He said he expected home and boat insurance to cover the damage.

“At least no was hurt,” Comer said. “We could’ve been upstairs sleeping.”