Burnin' Ring Of Fire

This past Sunday morning we got lots of excitement with not one, but two fires at the marina - in less than an hour!

The first one started off with the women noticing smoke coming from the area where a few cars were parked - just across the lawn from our deck. After a bunch of speculation as to what the source was, I suggested to Graham that he go & check it out. Sure enough, it was a new BMW that had been parked in the same spot for at least two days (the owners had gone away on their boat for holidays). By this point, there was an increasing amount of smoke coming from it, as the wind was really blowing directly into the engine compartment (where the fire had started).

I started yelling that there was a car on fire & for someone to call 911. Sanja had her cell phone on her, so she made the call.


The above photo shows the car burning just before the firemen put it out. Kinda bizarre, as the car wasn't running & it wasn't that hot out. The thing just decided to start on fire all by itself. Can you say lawsuit?

Here's a shot of the fire guys extinguishing it;


Here's the aftermath of the blaze;


After that was over, everyone went back to what they were doing. Less than an hour later, a boat from our marina was going by with a bunch of teenagers on it when smoke started pouring out of the engine compartment!

Another boat pulled along side to help (it was the parents of one of the kids + owner of the boat that was smoking). Another shot of adrenaline, as me & Von Brauweiller starting yelling at the kids to jump off the boat!!

As it happens, another guy was going by in a dingy & he pulled up to the boat & a couple of the girls jumped aboard it & the rest jumped in the water to swim for shore.

Eventually, we got the boat pulled into one of the finger docks & the owner jumped aboard & got things cooled down. It seems it was the starter & battery cable overheating, hence the smoke. By this point, Sanja had again called 911 & the same guys from the fire department were once again dispatched to our quiet little part of Everglades Marina . . .


 Here's the hero of the day, posing beside Tim, the marina owner - whom she also had to call twice in that hour - & one of the firemen;

Finally, to make things easier for everyone, I made up this little sign and put it out front of our slips;