HISTORY GOES UP IN SMOKE
Boblo ferry destroyed in offshore fire
A piece of Detroit-Windsor Amherst burg history went up in flames on Friday when one of Boblo Island’s famous ferries caught fire. Detroit news outlets began reporting around 11:40 a.m. that smoke could be seen pouring from the SS Ste. Claire docked at Detroit’s Riverside Marina, just north of Belle Isle.
By noon, fire was ravaging the decks of the 108-year-old vessel, as captured by the aerial cameras of WDIV Local 4 and WXYZ Channel 7.
The intensity of the flames and the risks of the situation forced firefighters to take a defensive approach, directing water at the ferry from afar with the help of a firefighting boat. According to WDIV Local 4, the SS Ste. Claire was moved to the marina in 2016 after it was purchased by a private collector.
The Detroit Free Press reported that restoration work involving welding tanks was being done on the ferry at the time of the incident.
Fire officials said the worker tried to extinguish the flames, but the situation worsened.
By 1 p.m., the fire had died down, but the ferry was mostly a blackened husk. Damage was still being assessed on Friday afternoon. It’s expected the boat will be a total loss. There were no reported injuries. The SS Ste. Claire and the SS Columbia were the two main ferry boats that brought visitors from both sides of the border to Boblo Island’s amusement park. Measuring 190-feet long, the SS Ste. Claire was built in 1910 and could carry 2,400 passengers on its four decks.
The ferry remained in service for 81 years, making its last trip to Boblo Island in 1991.
After that, it fell into disrepair and was towed to various docks for off-and-on restoration efforts.
One of the last propeller-driven steam engine ships to operate on the Great Lakes, the SS Ste. Claire had a steel hull and a mostly wooden superstructure.