RedactedNarrative: Operator #1 stated in effect:
  
  I just returned from the grocery store, and I turned on the space heater in the living spaces to heat it for my family. I started the engines from the flybridge control station. The starboard motor would not turn over. On my second attempt to start it, I heard a loud pop, but the motor started. I left the vessel to retrieve groceries from my vehicle at this time. When I returned a few minutes later, smoke was billowing from the port side of the superstructure. I entered the cabin and opened the engine compartment to find the space fully engulfed. I fled the boat for my own safety at this time, and called 9-1-1.
  
  Investigation #1 revealed:
  
  Vessel #1 was moored to a slip at Lighthouse Pointe Marina in Lower Township, Cape May County. Operator #1 started the port and starboard engines on Vessel #1, and reported hearing a loud pop II at that time. Operator #1 fled the boat and called 9-1-1 at this time. Fire Departments responded from Wildwood City, Rio Grande, and Erma, and the fire was subsequently extinguished without incident. Vessel #1 sustained heavy damage from the fire, including a collapsed superstructure. Vessel #1 remains partially submerged at low tide, while salvage arrangements are made by Operator #1. In addition, it should be noted that fire exposure damage was sustained to the wooden floating dock at Lighthouse Pointe Marina in the immediate vicinity of the fire. Damage to the dock is estimated to be $500.00.
  
  The Cape May County Fire Marshal determined the cause of the fire to be non-suspicious in nature. The primary fire was determined to be below deck and the probable cause is a backfire through an unprotected carburetor. It should be noted that shore power connection was connected and on at the time of the fire, but the cord set showed no indication of electrical activity or failure. See Cape May County Fire Marshal's Office Investigation Report 25-2022-002 for further details. Information for this report was provided by the operator's statement, witness statements, victims statements, and damage observed to the vessels and/or other property.
  