RedactedNarrative: 1. He was not injured and had been cleared by Sarasota EMS. 
  2. He had owned the vessel for ten plus years and lived on it for many of those years. 
  3. He had departed from the Venice inlet around 8:00 A. M. that morning and was headed to the M16 reef area to fish. 
  4. He had plans to bring his grandchildren out the next week to go fishing in that spot. 
  5. He was attempting to set his anchor by hand and was having a difficult time. 
  6. At some point during the process he looked to his stern and saw some black smoke, but thought it was coming from his diesel engine. 
  7. Upon setting the anchor he turned and headed to the stern of the vessel at that time he noticed more smoke and flames. 
  8. He attempted to get his fire extinguisher but was unable to. 
  9. He jumped into his dingy and was towed in by a Good Samaritan. 
  10. He is not sure what caused the fire. 
  11. The vessel had an issue with the battery charger in the past that caused the battery to melt, however, he thought the problem had been fixed. 
  Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Venice Fire Rescue and USCG all arrived to assist. Venice Fire extinguished the fire upon the request of the USCG. Deputy spoke with operator and made sure there were no other persons on board the vessel and that operator was uninjured. 
  The vessel burned to the waterline and sank shortly after the fire was extinguished. 
  On May 22, 2015, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Dive team dove on the vessel and confirmed that there were no hazard to navigation caused by the sunken vessel or its mast. 
  Due to the extent of the fire and the fact that the vessel sank, the exact cause of the fire is undetermined at this time. Based on the statements provided by the owner it is suspected that it was a failure of the electrical charging system.