Boat fires devastate Mayport families

Two families are struggling to recover after a recent early morning fire destroyed two shrimping vessels in the historic Mayport fishing community.
Firefighters responded to the blaze around 4 a.m. Dec. 3 in the 4300 block of Ocean Street and discovered the 50-foot Iris Marie and the 75-foot Triton II engulfed in flames.
Joe Floyd, owner of the Iris Marie, said he received a call around 3:30 a.m. that there was a problem with the boat he’d only purchased a week earlier. When first responders arrived, they discovered two boats heavily engulfed in flames and smoke. Responders advised that the Iris Marie sank just before sunrise around 5:15 a.m. The Triton II went down around 8 a.m.
“We were going to be at the boat around 4 a.m. They cranked up the generator is what I’m told. I don’t know. I wasn’t there. They went upstairs and just a few minutes later and about 3:15 a.m. I got a call from somebody else that smoke had started coming out of the engine room. From there, it just went up really fast,” he said. “They couldn’t get it loose from the other boat so it caught the other boat on fire which is the worst thing. It was a much more valuable boat and it’s just really bad for Eddie Thompson and his family. It’s not good for me but it’s worse for them. My wife has a business so we’re not going to starve to death, but I’m more concerned about the other boat.”
According to Thompson’s daughter, Heather, the loss is devastating for the fifth-generation fishing family. The massive financial investment in the family business is now a total loss. Due to new complex insurance underwriting, fiberglass commercial fishing vessels are uninsurable, she said. Thompson said the family is also facing removal costs and possible EPA/government fines levied up to $47,000 per day.
“This boat is our family’s sole source of income and to be strapped with heaping fines and removal costs just before the holidays is overwhelming,” said Thompson's wife, Cindy.
United States Coast Guard pollution responders and salvage crews deployed a containment boom around the sunken vessels later that morning to try and contain any pollution threats in the wake of the fire.  The Mayport Naval Station Fire Department assisted with extinguishing the fire.
Floyd said his wood boat was flammable.
“When the generator started up, I guess something electrical happened. That’s all I really know. Of course, there’s no insurance and the other boat didn’t have any insurance so it’s really bad all the way around,” noted Floyd. “My boat was wood with fiberglass over it. I’m not saying you couldn’t insure them, but with older boats, very few of them are insured. It’s just too much money to do.”
Floyd said the most pressing problem is removing both vessels, which are resting in from the dock other boats use to unload. He estimates the cost to be between $100,000 and $150,000, which he plans to cover since it was his boat that ignited Thompson’s vessel.
“It’s just one thing after another. If it was out in the ocean it would just stay there but in this case, it can’t stay where it is,” noted Thompson. “They’re still sticking out of the water. It’s not that deep. There’s no way another boat could come to that dock with them there.”
Floyd was born in Mayport and grew up fishing and shrimping with his father, though now he’s unsure whether he’ll return to the water.
“I don’t really think I’m going to get another boat so that’s just the way it is. Since my boat is the one that started all the problems, the cleanup and the moving of the boats is financially going to come back on me,” he said. “I’ve told anybody that listens if they want to help to please contribute to Eddie Thompson’s Go Fund Me page. I wouldn’t feel right taking any money when I’ve caused so much trouble for somebody else. His boat was much more expensive and he’s in a really bad place.”
Despite the loss, Floyd is grateful that his crew was spared. If the fire had started after the boat left the dock, they would have had no other choice than to jump overboard in the deep darkness, he said.
“I just wish I hadn’t tied alongside him. I don’t normally tie up there but I couldn’t get into the spot where I usually tie up because of the current the way it was. I’m just thankful we weren’t out in the ocean. But it was bad for him,” sighed Floyd. “I don’t think there was anything I would’ve known to do to stop it but if I had I would’ve certainly done it. I’m not having a good December so far but hopefully we’ll be able to put this behind us at some point.”