Fire Damages Three Boats at NOAA Center

The AP reported that a fire swept through an old wooden pier, damaging two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) buildings and three of the agency's boats. The cause of the blaze wasn't immediately clear. The fire started at the NOAA pier on Lake Union, which is linked to Puget Sound by a ship canal, more than two hours after the end of a large Fourth of July fireworks show over the lake, Seattle Fire Department spokesperson said. A 224-ft. decommissioned research vessel and a former Navy ship that NOAA acquired last year with plans to retrofit it for oceanographic research were both damaged, along with a small aluminum boat, a NOAA spokesman said. Five ships are based at the NOAA's Pacific Marine Operations Center, which serves as a staging point for vessels when they go out on oceanographic research missions. Source: AP