A blaze destroyed two boats and damaged two others at Venice Yacht Club on Tuesday

The State Fire Marshal of Florida and US Coast Guard are investigating a blaze that destroyed two boats and heavily damaged two others at Venice Yacht Club, causing at least US$1m in damages.

Firefighters arrived at the scene Tuesday afternoon to find two boats fully engulfed in flames.

“Our units arrived on the scene and two vessels were fully involved when we got here, so we called out for multiple units,” Venice Fire Chief Shawn Carvey told the Herald-Tribune. “We were able to get water on the fire rather quickly.”

Firefighters had to extinguish the fire quickly and used both foam and water, so they wouldn’t sink the two boats on fire.

“They carried a large amount of diesel fuel in them, up to 600 gallons a vessel,” Carvey said. “If you end up sinking the vessel, then you have a hazardous situation.”

Crews from Sarasota County and the Nokomis volunteer fire departments responded to the scene, as did Venice Police, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Sea Tow.

Early reports are that one vessel recently had an electrical issue that may have helped cause the fire. A third boat had its sails catch fire and, along with a fourth boat, suffered scorching along their decks and hulls. The dock where the boats were moored was also damaged.

No one was injured in the blaze.