How such a tragedy could have happened twice in a matter of months was on everybody’s mind. Insurance investigators, Deer Isle fire chief Brent Morey and state fire marshal John Morse had examined the site, but as of mid-January the cause of the fire had not been determined.
Deer Isle fire chief Brent Morey, asked to comment on the two Jericho Bay Boatyard fires, noted that such fires are particularly hard to handle because of the nature of the material involved. “There’s so much fuel load,” he said. “Fiberglass and wood burns real hot and hard.” The first fire consumed a building made of wood timber. Because the second boatshed was made of metal, Morey said. “We were more fortunate with this one.”
Fifteen years ago Jeffrey Thompson, 32, who now runs the boatyard, helped his father and brothers clear the land and build the two boat sheds that made up the boatyard. Every year they added to it and improved it. Then last spring, an intense fire destroyed the main shed and 16 yachts. Many customers showed their loyalty to the Thompsons, replacing their lost boats and continuing to keep them at Jericho Bay.
Jeff and his wife, Danielle, picked up the pieces as best they could and focused on improving the second boat shed. They had it insulated, wired and heated. Then on Dec. 28, eight months to the day after the first fire, a second broke out, engulfing boat shop No. 2 and reducing ten more boats to rubble.
Five of the burned yachts belonged to people who had lost boats in the first fire. A number of them plan to replace their boats once more and to keep them at Jericho Bay. Three-time loser (two boats and a skiff) David Zinn, of Pennsylvania and Deer Isle, seemed to speak for them when he said, “I’m a little numb over it, [but] as far as the yard goes, I’d go back in a heartbeat.”
“The first boat lost [last April] really truly meant a great deal to me,” Zinn continued; “it was the culmination of a lot of hard work and saving. I got up at four and five in the morning and worked til eight or nine at night, year after year, to be able to come to Maine and do these things.” Not a wealthy man, he said he and his wife have a tiny house on the island. Fortunately for the Zinns, their boats were insured, but the second time around, the loss didn’t hit him as personally. “We lost a boat,” he said, “one which had not yet become a part of us; it was another man’s dream.” He said his concern now is for the Thompsons – that they can find their way through this devastating loss.
Two-time yacht loser Watts Hill, of Chapel Hill, NC, and Deer Isle, added, “We’re all fully insured and can take the hit; [the Thompsons] are not fully insured, and can’t afford it.”
The shock and depth of the loss was evident in Jeff’s voice and demeanor. “Things were going good,” he said ruefully. “I had all the business I could handle; I’d hired two new guys.”
Although Jeff would like to rebuild, he doesn’t know if he’s going to. “It’s quite a responsibility,” he said. “My insurance is going to go up, and [the fire] wasn’t my fault.” He said he’d like to keep his boat owners as friends and noted, “It’s amazing the customers are in such a mood that they’d bring their stuff back; most people would think twice about it.”
Clearly, he has thought about rebuilding. If he does, he said, he will plan a building that has but one bay. That way, only one boat at a time will be at risk. “I’ll get it in, fix it, and get it out,” he said, adding that next time around he’s going to have two or three fire inspectors come down and make sure everything in the new building is up to code. “I was relying upon a guy who had a license,” he said of the electrician who did the wiring and installed the furnace in the No. 2 boat shed. “That’s what the license is for.”
“It’s so disappointing,” he said; “I had new tools I hadn’t even used yet.”