Fire destroys boats, building in Fernandina Beach

Jacksonville, FL — As many as 13 boats were damaged or destroyed in an overnight fire at Ocean Outboard Marine boat shop in Fernandina Beach.

The business is near Tiger Point Marina on Egans Creek. Fernandina Beach Firefighters arrived just before Midnight to find the building fully involved and fire coming through the roof.

“The building was full of different oils and gas and then the actual fuel tanks on the boats, so it had a wide range of different flammables on scene”, said Deputy Chief Fire Marshal Jason Higginbotham.

The cause of the fire is undetermined because there is too much damage to the structure.

“They list it as undetermined to allow them more time to research and investigate other possibilities but they’re not ruling anything out at this point”, Higginbotham said.

Investigators are working to get lightning data to find out if there may have been lightning strikes around the time of the fire.

The Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Coast Guard determined no hazardous materials made it to Egans Creek.