The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office is assisting with the investigation into at least two explosions of unknown origin that shook the Port Elgin harbour at 2:40 a. m. Tuesday. Thankfully, there were no injuries, but the blasts ignited a fire that destroyed seven boats in a winter storage area.
The first explosion was small and sounded like thunder, waking up harbour resident Chris Johnson.
“The second explosion shook the windows and I wondered what it was, but when I looked out the window I could see the flames shooting into the sky,” Johnson said, adding she wasn’t scared because four fire trucks, three police cars, and an ambulance arrived almost immediately.
Saugeen Shores firefighters managed to prevent the flames from spreading to other vessels that had recently been taken out of the water. A washroom building in the north parking lot area also suffered some damage.
Harbour neighbour Nancy Ingram, who thought she might need to evacuate for safety, stood outside the police tape ten hours after being jolted awake in the middle of the night.
“That first crack that I heard shook my house and woke me up,” she said Tuesday as she looked at the burned-out remains of several boats and damage to others that were dry-docked for winter.
“There was a second loud explosion, and that shook the house too. We looked out and saw flames over the trees. You could hear the crackle; it was pretty frightening, and this big black puff of smoke went up. I thought trees had fallen over and we would have to leave,” she said.
“The police got here within five minutes, but it took about twenty minutes for the fire trucks to arrive…” Ingram mentioned while making coffee and watching everything unfold. She said a friend on Arthur St. reported sparks floating over his home during peak of the blaze.
Next door neighbour Clay Cutting thought someone might have crashed into his porch or that a tree had fallen when he was shaken awake.
“We called 911 and went to look out our living room window just as a second explosion happened. When we got to the window I could see that one of the largest boats at the end was on fire. There was another small pop and I stayed by the window until police showed up,” Cutting shared.
The police confirmed all affected boat owners had been informed about what happened.
With an acrid smell of burnt plastic and fiberglass lingering in the air, an investigator from Ontario’s Fire Marshal’s office measured and documented evidence as they sought to determine what caused this incident.
Anyone with information is asked to call Saugeen Shores Police – 519-832-9200.
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