The fire is estimated to have caused more than $24m in damages.

A massive fire has engulfed a marina in the US and destroyed some 350 boats stacked inside.

Fire crews were on the scene yesterday nearly 18 hours after they first responded to a commercial alarm at Sundance Marina’s boat storage facility in Portland, Oregon.

Three fire trucks, five engines, a fire boat and several support vehicles responded to the marina fire when the alarm came in at 10:30 pm local time on Sunday night.

Portland Fire and Rescue Service released a statement saying that reinforcements from the US Coast Guard and neighboring municipalities were called in to assist in containing the blaze.

“About two hours into the fire, parts of the structure began to collapse and a 4th alarm was called,” the statement said.

“Well over 100 fire personnel from both PF&R and Vancouver Fire were working at this fire. A US Coast Guard representative was called to advise for potential water related hazards.”

maina-fire-portland

According to the fire service, the size and location of the inferno at the end of an island in the Columbia River meant that hydrants in the area were not able to provide an adequate supply of water. Three fire boats were brought in to supply water to crews fighting the conflagration on land as one of the boats doused the nearly 90,000 square foot facility from the water.

Crews continued to work to put out areas of active fire that were still smoldering on Monday evening, and the fire service said investigators were on the scene but had had trouble gaining access to the destroyed building.

“PF&R Arson squad is on-scene and working on a preliminary investigation. The investigators have not been able to get into the structure and should get inside [Tuesday]. Booming has been set up on the river to help mitigate any contaminants entering the river.”

No injuries were reported in the blaze.

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