Luxury yachts destroyed in marina blaze at Cabarita in Sydney's inner west - ABC Local

By Thomas Oriti and Claire Aird

Updated December 03, 2013 09:20:48

A family has had a lucky escape after a fire destroyed three luxury yachts at a wharf in Sydney's inner west overnight.

Police say the blaze began just before 3:00am (AEDT) at the d'Albora Marina in Cabarita.

It is believed there was an explosion on a boat that was moored between two other yachts and that the fire spread from that.

The blaze ripped through the three vessels as well as another smaller boat that has sunk nearby.

A family was sleeping on board one of the yachts while their house was being renovated, but were led to safety.

Paramedics treated a 25-year-old for smoke inhalation while a 45-year-old was taken to hospital after suffering chest pains while he was trying to put out the fire with a hose.

Several other people were evacuated from the wharf as more than 30 firefighters worked to stop the flames.

Fire and Rescue Inspector Geoff McAllister from Fire and Rescue says it was a significant blaze.

"The boats were quite large and the fire was pretty spectacular, there were flames 20 and 30 metres in the sky," he said.

"The crews did a great job to contain the fire pretty quickly and stop it spreading to other boats in the marina."

Fire and Rescue Superintendent Paul Johnson says crews have been working in the water to stop fuel leaking into the harbour.

"While extinguishing the fire we were simultaneously trying to get these booms in place around the whole area," he said.

Officers say they are treating the fire as suspicious and witnesses say a smaller vessel with an outboard motor was seen leaving the area just before the explosions.

Investigators will start work once the wharf is stabilised this morning.

The ABC has been told all the boats moored at the wharf have to be insured.

Topics: arson, canada-bay-2046

First posted December 03, 2013 07:45:14