Owner #1 stated that he and his wife were sleeping when they were awoken by the smell of burning wire. When the owner #1 opened the hatch to the engine compatrment, the
compartment was engulfed in flames. Owner #1 then grabbed a fire extinguisher and used it on the fire. He used two more extinguishers to put the fire out.

Investigation revealed: Operator #1 and passenger #1 were sleeping aboard vessel #1 when they were awoken by the smell of an electrical fire.  Upon checking the engine compartment, Owner #1 discovered flames and successfully extinguished the fire by using three portable B2 portable fire extinguishers.

Inspection of the electrical system revealed that the battery selector switch and associated wiring were melted. The open cell batteries connected to the switch, appeared to have been heated, as the battery covers were off and there were several cracks in the top of the batteries.  The battery charger,battery isolatorand the associated wiring were also burned to a point of being unrecognizable. Shore power was connected at the time of the fire by a 30 amp-110 service. Additionally, there was a portable airconditioning unit plugged into a 110v outlet prior to the start of the fire. The owner stated that the battery charger was off while connected to the shore power. A check of the ship service pannel revealed that the battery charger switch was in the off position. It also appeared that the battery selector switches were in the off position. With the evidence present at the time of the incident, this investigator was unable to determine the exact cause of the other than it was electrical in nature.
Lower Twp