An electrical fire broke out onboard the passenger ferry VICTORIA CLIPPER on April 16, 2015 while en route from Victoria BC to Seattle, WA. VICTORIA CLIPPER crew called the Coast Guard around 7:15 pm to report the fire in a forward space housing the anchor windlass. The ferry was located off Port Townsend with 223 passengers on board when the fire broke out. Ferry crew extinguished the fire and no one was injured.
The Coast Guard notified the WA State Ferry Operation Center and the Seattle Fire Department to assist if necessary, and a Coast Guard helicopter and patrol boat crew escorted the ferry safely back to Seattle.
“The response of the VICTORIA CLIPPER crew was exceptional,” said Lt. Raffael Shamilov, command duty officer at the Coast Guard 13th District Command Center in Seattle. The Coast Guard will investigate the cause of the fire.