5 safe after boat catches fire off Gabriola Island

It was a scary day on the water for five people when their fishing boat caught fire near Gabriola Island Wednesday.

The boat was just north of Silva Bay when the boat burst into flames around 5 p.m.

The vessel was under tow, moving from Petersburg, Alaska to Bellingham, Washington at the time.

The fire created plumes of black smoke that were visible from many kilometres away.

READ MORE: Hungry slug becomes star of B.C. viral video

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

All five people were evacuated to a Coast Guard hovercraft and they are reported to be OK.

There is no word yet on how the fire started but it is believed to have started in the ship’s engine room. As of Thursday morning, the boat is now completely underwater. Due to reports of fuel on board, boom was deployed around the vessel before it had fully submerged.

The vessel was carrying approximately 15,000 L of diesel fuel, a small amount of lubricating oils and 23,000 lbs of halibut when it caught fire.

Transport Canada’s NASP plane completed an overflight of the incident site early Thursday morning. At the time of the flight, Transport Canada reported an estimated 1.6 L of diesel fuel on the water.

Canadian Coast Guard, C-Tow Marine Assistance Ltd. and Western Canada Marine Response Corporation searched the incident area where the vessel sunk, looking for sheen and debris. Very small pockets of non-recoverable sheen were observed in several areas. Attempts to recover the sheen with sorbent boom and pads were unsuccessful due to the thinness of the product on the water’s surface.

Environment Canada estimates 44 per cent of the diesel evaporated within 24 hours of the spill incident. Based on the current spill projection models, Environment Canada does not expect the shoreline to be impacted.