Quick Take
Two crew members were rescued after an early morning generator fire broke out aboard a Monterey-based squid boat sitting off the coast of Pleasure Point. The blaze destroyed the vessel and hastened the 82-year-old captain's retirement after six decades at sea.
Escaping a raging boat fire off the Pleasure Point coast shattered Richard McCann’s dreams of a peaceful retirement and upended his adopted grandson Edward Arellano’s hopes of carrying on the family’s maritime legacy.
Early Wednesday morning, the pair of fishermen was aboard the Navigator, a 48-food Delta fishing boat out of Monterey that had traveled to Santa Cruz County for some squid fishing.
The boat’s captain, McCann, 82, had been working on commercial fishing boats for nearly 60 years and was getting ready to hang up his gear. Arellano, 32, the engineer, had been fishing commercially for only a few months but was preparing to buy the Navigator from its current owner to start a full-time fishing career.
The pair had gone to sleep around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, aiming to fish later that day. But roughly three hours later, Arellano awoke to a cabin filled with smoke. A malfunction in the 51-year-old boat’s generator, he said, had caused the insulation to catch fire.
Arellano said that upon waking up, he didn’t even know where the fire was coming from. His first instinct was to check the engine and make sure the fuel lines were off. There was no smoke in the engine room when he entered.
“That took me by surprise, because usually when there’s a cabin full of smoke, it’s coming from the engine room,” he said.
Arellano donned goggles and a respirator, grabbed a fire extinguisher and yelled for McCann to wake up. Both sprung to action and began dumping buckets of water into the boat’s smokestacks and deploying the fire extinguisher in a desperate attempt to put the blaze out fast. McCann’s speed surprised Arellano: “You gotta remember, this is an 82-year-old man. I was like, ‘Holy crap, how’d he get up that ladder [to the deck] so fast?”
Shortly after, another boater pulled up and offered to call for help, which they accepted. Arellano said that he was fighting the fire for 30 to 45 minutes before Santa Cruz Harbor Patrol arrived to assist. When harbor patrol arrived, staff handed them more water pumps to try to keep the situation under control.
“It still just wasn’t enough. The fiberglass ignited and it shot a giant jet of fire out of the smokestack,” said Arellano. “At that point, everyone yelled at me to get off the boat.”
Harbormaster Blake Anderson said that harbor patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard both responded to the fire and brought the two men to the Capitola Wharf. Central Fire District of Santa Cruz County learned of the fire at 7:43 a.m. and mobilized crews from Capitola to help coordinate the water response among the Monterey Fire Department, Coast Guard and harbor patrol, said the department’s fire chief, Jason Nee. Monterey Fire led the effort to put out the blaze, as it is the only agency in the area with the equipment necessary for the job.
Members of the harbor patrol unsuccessfully attempted to quell the flames with one of the agency’s water pumps: “When we showed up, it was pretty small, but it rapidly accelerated,” Anderson said. “Once it became apparent that it was too smokey, everyone got out of there.”
One member of the harbor patrol staff was taken to the hospital to be evaluated for smoke exposure. While Anderson had not heard from him since then, he said the staff member appeared to be doing OK prior to the hospital trip.
Anderson confirmed that the boat ended up sinking before it was able to be towed back to Monterey.
Although he and McCann are safe, Arellano says it’s the latest in a series of tragic and difficult life events. His wife recently lost her grandmother, and he himself lost his nephew, who he says was like a son to him. He had personal items with sentimental value, including pictures with his nephew, on the boat.
What’s more is that Arellano was in the process of purchasing the boat from its current owner, paying it off incrementally. Even if the boat is miraculously retrieved, its prognosis isn’t good.
“It’s over $160,000 to get it salvaged and brought on shore,” he said. The boat’s current owner has been working with Arellano and McCann to begin the insurance process, and might be able to help find employment on another fishing boat.
It’s a cruel twist of irony for Arellano, as fishing has always been a hobby of his, and working on a commercial fishing boat with his adopted grandfather was the perfect gig.
Arellano, who lives in Anaheim, had worked as a handyman and mechanic for the past 15 years but had always wanted to be out on the ocean. It was McCann who helped him finally achieve his professional dream. While the pair have been working together on the boat for only a few months, they have known each other for years.
“We planned to do this and he was going to give me the experience before he retired, so that when I started doing it on my own, I would have that knowledge myself,” he said. The fire happened just a few days shy of Arellano’s birthday.
McCann, who lives in Crescent City, and has worked on commercial fishing boats since his early 20s, said Wednesday’s boat fire was enough excitement for him. “Now, for sure,” he said of his plans for retirement.
“It’s not a good way to go out here,” he added with a laugh.
Arellano and McCann are staying at a Holiday Inn in Monterey, where Southern Cal Seafood, their current contractor, is paying for their stay. Arellano is going home to Anaheim on Thursday, but he said he’ll be back in Monterey in the coming weeks in hopes of finding work once again.
And while that’s not a certainty, Arellano hopes for better days ahead.
“I’ve come from a long line of hardships and this is by far the worst one,” he said.
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