Two boats destroyed by fire

THREE fire crews fought to save a riverside boatyard after two boats were destroyed and the flames threatened to spread to other vessels.

The blaze broke out at the yard at Felixstowe Ferry at the mouth of the River Deben.

Crowds of residents from the fishing hamlet turned out to watch as firefighters pumped hundreds of gallons of water onto the 20ft wooden naval pinnace, which was well alight by the time they arrived at the scene.

Andrew Moore, who owns the yard, was woken by firefighters as he slept.

He said: “The yard was shut at the time and I was woken by a phone call.

“By the time I got here the fire was roaring and I couldn't do anything except watch the firefighters.”

Eyewitness Anna Theunissen said: “We were just coming back in a dinghy from the evening on a friend's boat when we saw these flames leaping into the air. It looked as if the whole boatyard was ablaze - it was so spectacular.

“When we got ashore we found that it was one large boat and there was already a fire crew tackling the flames. Two others then arrived to help.

“The fire crews worked really hard to stop the fire spreading to another boat alongside.”

Miss Theunissen, of High Road, Trimley St Martin, said the alarm had been raised at midnight on Friday by a houseboat resident nearby who saw the flames out of a window as he went to have a shower.

The flames also ruined Blue Fin, a 32-foot motorboat, but the fire crews ensured the flames did not spread to other craft.

The boat was on dry land in the yard and understood to be undergoing refurbishment. It was owned by a Felixstowe man who lived in a property next to the boatyard.

It is understood to have been worked on earlier in the day.

Firefighters extinguished a fire on 30square metres of gorseland near Anson Road, Martlesham, which started just after 8pm yesterdays.

Fire also damaged a storage container at Hawes Street, Ipswich at 11.45pm on Friday, while there was another blaze the same day at a block of garages off Stratford Road at 4.15pm.