Three crewmembers were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard off the 129-foot tug Canal Deluge operating out of Bourne, Mass., after the vessel caught fire. About four miles south of Sconticut Neck in Falmouth in the Cape Cod Canal, the crew reported a fire in the engine room at about 1300 on Aug. 1, according to the to Coast Guard.
The crew quickly closed the door to the engine room and activated the tug’s fire suppression system, according to Petty Officer Connie Terrell, of the Coast Guard First District’s Office of Public Affairs. “The crew did everything they could to put this fire out,” Terrell said, “but the fire was not extinguished.”
The crew’s prompt call to the Coast Guard meant that a 47-foot rescue boat from Coast Guard Station Menemsha was quickly dispatched. All three crews were rescued with no injuries.
“I don’t know if the boat will be a total loss, but at least everyone was able to get out of the boat safely,” Terrell said.
Canal Deluge was escorting the tug Treasure Coast, which was towing a barge. Terrell did not know what cargo was in the barge. The other tug and its barge were not impacted by the fire. The tugs Yvette and Winslow Kelsey worked to put out the fire.
The Coast Guard cutter Hammerhead, from Woods Hole, Mass., was also sent to the scene. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also assisted. No pollution was reported.
