RedactedNarrative: On December 20, 2014 at approximately 1720 hours, I of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were on duty, in uniform, and on a marked patrol vessel on patrol in Monroe County, Florida. 
  
  We responded to a call reporting a boat on fire in the vicinity of Cook Island. Upon arrival I saw a vessel (FL2990NL) on fire approximately 30 feet from shore, tied to a crab trap line. There were several individuals on a dock nearby, and Tow Boat had a vessel in the water near the burning boat. The vessel was completely engulfed in flames with no one on board, so Officer instructed the people to move a safe distance away. The fire encroached on the line the boat was tied to, and the vessel was in jeopardy of drifting towards shore where there was dry sea grass, other vegetation, and houses nearby that could potentially catch fire. We decided to attach a line to the crab trap line and attempted to tow the vessel a safe distance from shore. 
  
  We towed the burning vessel approximately 100 feet from shore before the line burned through. We attempted to keep the vessel from drifting back towards the shoreline. Within minutes the vessel was completely consumed by the fire and the fire was extinguished by ocean water. 
  
  I made contact with the registered owner/operator of the vessel. He told us that he was performing maintenance on the vessel while it was tied to his dock. Operator1 had the engine hatch up, and was cranking the engines in an attempt to remove moisture. He had removed the coil and upon the third crank, he heard what he described as a "puff", and the engine compartment caught fire. Operator1 reported that he did not have time to retrieve the fire extinguisher, so he jumped overboard and pulled the boat out to the crab trap and secured the boat to the line. 
  
  Operator1 removed the burned vessel from the water on December 22, 2014.