Westmount man escapes boat fire
Sound of flames woke owner who was sleeping onboard
Carter Gillis was asleep on his sailboat when he was awoken by a sound Saturday night.
“I thought a boat pulled up beside me,” the 65-year-old New Waterford born Westmount resident said.
It was about 11:30 p.m. and when Gillis opened his eyes he realized the sound was a fire that had broken out in the front part of his boat, Elonwy.
“I just got the hell off the boat,”
the avid boater said.
Docked at the Ballast Grounds wharf, the French Foreign Legion veteran was able to climb out a small hatch in the back of
the boat to safety. He called 911 at 11:48 p.m. and North Sydney Volunteer Fire Department responded and put out the blaze.
The interior of the boat is destroyed
and Gillis said he doesn’t think it can be repaired. He has insurance and hopes his claim will be accepted.
“I was just getting ready to take her out of the water. Today actually,” Gillis told the Post on Sunday while Reashore’s Marine Transport and Boat Hauling took the Elonwy off wharf grounds. “It was a nice boat.”
The Harbour Authority was quick to ensure the charred boat was removed from the water as quickly as possible to prevent any contamination. The boat was out of the water before noon on Sunday.
Gillis said he thinks the fire might have started from the six boat batteries that were the only things plugged in when the flames broke out.
Attempts to reach a representative from the North Sydney Volunteer Fire Department was unsuccessful by publication time.