VIDEO: A tug boat in the process of being scrapped going up in flames Thursday afternoon near the Mobile River.
From the time the fire started until it was out, it was burning for at least two hours. The tug boat was on dry dock and firefighters say the boat caught fire as it was being scrapped.
“Any time that you have heat and something that can burn the potential is there,” said Steven Millhouse with Mobile Fire Rescue. “So, with a scrap tug boat in dry dock it can happen very easily.” The fire sparking around 3 PM off Highway 90 near the Cochrane-Africatown Bridge.
For firefighters to be able to battle this blaze they had to put out about 1,300 feet of fire hose just to get water to the tug boat.
Despite black smoke being visible for miles, firefighters say nobody called 911. The only reason firefighters responded, an off-duty fire chief noticed the smoke and called it in around 3:30.