Early morning fire destroys dozen boats at Cottage Park

An early morning fire broke out at the Cottage Park Yacht Club marina on Orlando Avenue early Friday morning, destroying a dozen boats.

It took firefighters from Winthrop, the Coast Guard, and surrounding marine units several hours to douse the flames with water and foam. No injuries were reported as a result of the massive blaze, which spread from boat to boat along the marina. Two of the boats that were on fire broke free from the marina but eventually recovered and extinguished.

Winthrop Fire Chief Stephen Calandra told the media that there were challenges to fighting the fire beyond being on the ocean.

“The whole decking is composite trex, so that starts burning, it’s not like wood, wood you can put out easy, this stuff just keeps burning,” said Calandra.

Additional challenges included running hose lines from the street to the far reaches of the marina, requiring additional manpower. Marine units from Boston, Everett, and Massport assisted with putting out the fire.

In a social media post, John Cataldo of the Cottage Park Yacht Club thanked the men and women of the Winthrop Fire Department, the police department, Massport Fire Department, the Coast Guard, the state police, the Winthrop Harbormaster, Everett Fire Department marine unit, and TowBoat US Boston, Beverly, and Newburyport.

“It has been a devastating morning for the Cottage Park Yacht Club Community but we will rebuild and be back at it soon,” Cataldo stated “We are very grateful that no one was injured.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.