RedactedNarrative: On 27 February 2015 at 1419 hours NJSP ODU received a call about a vessel fire at Harbor Cove Marina, 660 Bay Ave., Somers Point City in Cape May County, NJ.  Sgt. and I responded to the scene.  Upon arrival we found the remains of a 34' white Boston Whaler named "Land Ho".  The vessel was still moored to the dock and smoking from the fire.  Somers Point Fire Department was in the process of extinguishing the fire.  The vessel could not be boarded at that time due to fire department activity.
   
  I located the owner of the vessel at the scene.  His brother is the owner of the marina and he was notified of the fire immediately by family members.  He stated that his vessel is in the water all year long, and has remained so for the past five years.  During the winter he kept three electric space heaters on board.  One was in the cabin, one in the engine compartment and one in the generator compartment.  He told me that one of the electric heaters must have had a problem that caused the fire.  He otherwise had no explanation for the direct cause of the fire.  
   
   NJ State Fire Investigator, was at the scene.  At that time he did not make any statement about the possibility of arson, but left the investigation open to any evidence.  He told me that he would be following up on the incident at a later time and would advise me of his findings.  It should be noted that the dock near the vessel, and what appeared to be a dockside concession stand that had been winterized, sustained some damage from the fire as well.  Most other vessels had been removed from the water for winter, and there were no other vessels in the area.  
   
  There were power cords extending from the shore to the vessel, and the firemen said they had seen at least one space heater inside the vessel prior to beginning their work.  In the process of extinguishing the fire, the vessel was filled with foam that would take considerable time to dissipate.  Although the owner planned to remove the vessel from the water as soon as possible, it would take several hours for that procedure to be completed.  Therefore no further investigation could be conducted at that time.  Sgt. and I then departed the scene.
   
  On March 3rd, I was finally able to make contact with Investigator regarding this incident.  He stated that it was apparent the fire began around the space heater in the engine compartment.  However, any evidence that would have allowed him to conclusively determine the cause of the fire was destroyed by the heat.  He particularly wanted to examine the extension cord that connected the space heater to the outlet on the dock.  He said that based on his experience, the extension cord is frequently the cause in space heater fires.  So while he has an opinion based on professional experience, he would leave the official cause of the fire as "undetermined".
  Also see Investigation Report V540201500004.
   