Fire crews contain massive boat fire near Salty Sam's Marina, leaving one man homeless

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — A massive boat fire creates an even bigger loss for one man. At around 2:30 pm flames shot out of this boat, as well as a column of smoke at the Salty Sam’s Marina on Fort Myers beach.  Fire officials tell us due to the intensity of the fire, they had to call out multiple land and water crews.  “When crews got on scene they realized the boat was at such a far end of the dock it required them to lay some hose lines down the dock. So we called for some additional resources to help do that so we were hitting it both from land and water,” said Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief Matt Love. 
Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief Matt Love says there were a total of 16 units called to the scene, bringing specials tactics to help put out the fire  “This was a heavy foam effort fire and foam can get into some deep-seated places on a boat that water cant always gets. Our friends at forestry and Cape Coral Fire Department brought in some extra resources of foam for us so we could fight the fire properly,” said Chief Love. 
David Kastan with Salty Sam’s Marina spoke with the boat owner himself and tells me, he is terribly shaken up  “Some of our dock hands were there, he was trying to get some of his belongings together and jumped on and helped him get off the boat, get the dog off the boat and quickly as possible,” said David Kastan, Marketing Director for Salty Sam’s Marina. 
Kastan says their priority was to protect not only the boat owners but other boats customers in the area. “You know we had a lot of water traffic a lot of boats moving around the water. You know we needed to make sure not only the boats that were docked were safe and that people were clear of the scene and also the incoming boats that were coming in and out of the marina,” said Kastan. 
Right now Kastan says the marina is working to help this man recover the best way they can.   “A lot of his personal effects, his cell phone, his wallet was on the boat. He’s got some friends in Charlotte County, he’s going to head there tonight, and then we are working with the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, so that when he comes back down tomorrow to deal with all of this, he’ll have a place to stay, him and his dog and not have to worry about anything,” said Kastan. At this time the incident is an active investigation, and investigators are working to pinpoint the cause of this fire.