VANCOUVER ISLAND — A 49-year-old man is dead and several boats and house boats have been destroyed after a fire at a Ladysmith marina early Thursday morning.
Ladysmith RCMP, firefighters and B.C. Ambulance paramedics rushed to the blaze at the Ladysmith Maritime Docks just after midnight Thursday.
They found a man in medical distress lying on the dock. Another area of the dock was engulfed in flames.
The man and his wife — both Revelstoke residents mooring their boat at the marina — were running from the fire when the man collapsed on the dock, according to Ladysmith RCMP Staff Sgt. Roger Plamondon.
“We’re only assuming he may have had a heart attack,” he said, noting the man did not have any injuries as a result of the fire.
Plamondon said the couple’s boat did not catch fire but was close to the flames.
The man was taken to hospital, where he died.
Plamondon said police are awaiting an autopsy by the B.C. Coroners Service before they can confirm exactly how the man died.
Fire crews tackled the blaze but five house boats and two boats were destroyed. The house boats were not lived in, but used to store smaller boats, Plamondon said.
He said three of the boats have sunk. A damage estimate has not been determined by Plamondon said it is “extensive.”
The fire is being investigated by the Ladysmith Fire Department but right now, it is not considered suspicious, Plamondon said.
It does not appear that anyone else was staying at the marina when the fire broke out.
Located at 610 Oyster Bay Drive, the Ladysmith Maritime Docks are managed by the Ladysmith Maritime Society.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the Ladysmith RCMP at 250-245-2215 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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