Sunseeker fire on Biscayne Bay

happened yesterday...

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Miami - A couple from Cleveland hoping to enjoy a Sunday with friends on their million-dollar pleasure craft ended up instead jumping overboard to escape a fire on the yacht.

"They had a fire plan in place. They never thought they'd actually have to go through with it," Miami fire-rescue spokesman Lt. Ignatius Carroll said. "They were out to enjoy the beautiful day."

The couple and two friends, none of whose names were released, set off for their day at sea from Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here.'s Pier 66 at about 9 a.m., Carroll said. They filled up the 56-foot Halcyon with 500 gallons of diesel fuel and headed south.

Two miles from Elliott Key, near Key Biscayne, the owner noticed smoke coming from the engine compartment and went to check it out. That's when he saw the fire.

He quickly flipped a switch to extinguish the fire, but that did not work, Carroll said. His wife threw a fire blanket on the engine compartment. That, too, failed to squelch the flames, and they spread.

They quickly radioed their coordinates, called 911 from a cell phone, and then all four jumped into the water, Carroll said. Nearby boaters who spotted the fire helped them get to safety unhurt.

Firefighters from Miami-Dade County and Miami extinguished the fire but not in time to save the Sunseeker yacht worth an estimated $1 million, Carroll said.

"The boat is a complete loss. It's now a salvage operation," he said.

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http://www.justnews.com/video/18772960/index.html

as usual, many inacuracy in the press report... not sure how you throw a fire blanket on the engine compartment.

second "big" boat fire on the bay in less than a year... last one was a 47 Davis (sistership and same owner to the infamous Joe Cool), which suffered an electrical fire.