We snapped some photos from the Ballard side of the water today of the fire damage aboard the Arctic Dawn, the crabbing vessel that burned in a three-alarm fire along the south side of the Ship Canal early this morning. Nearly 100 firefighters fought the blaze for over an hour.
Seattle Fire says the damage seems to be contained to the deck and the cabin, and not to the structure or engine room beneath. You can see the crabbing cages charred in the fire, and the Lady Kodiak alongside was blackened from the smoke — but did not sustain direct fire damage, according to Seattle Fire.
Fire crews installed a yellow boom along the bottom of the water, placed protectively just in case the vessel began to leak oil.
As we reported early this morning, the skipper told My Ballard that the Arctic Dawn was featured in the early seasons of Deadliest Catch, the popular Discovery Channel TV show.
Surveying the damage on ‘Deadliest Catch’ boat
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
“crabbing cages” = crab pots
Umm… any true Ballard resident should know that those are “crab pots,” not “crabbing cages.”
Can you ask the PIO what unit H317 from the dispatch is?
“H317” (the rig’s city specific ID number) is the dispatch code listing for Hose 34, stationed at Station 34. The Seattle Fire Department has two Hose Wagons, each with approximately 3000′ of large diameter water supply hose (like a water main made of fire hose), a 275 gallon tank of firefighting foam, and assorted hardware. Hose 18 is at Station 18 (Ballard), and Hose 34 is at Station 34, south of the Arboretum.
ltfd – thanks for the info! Great stuff!
Thanks for following up on this story. I wonder what the heck burned so violently on the superstructure of the boat? I thought that superstructure was basically metal. Those flames looked like a petroleum fire!
was this a purposely set fire for insurance purposes?
it looks kind of ‘fishy’
The Lady Kodiak has a blown out pilot house window. A fire that hot would sustain some damage if you ask me.
I am just so happy no one was hurt. My heart goes out to the owner and crew, but again no one was hurt. Hope they find the cause soon.
crab pots not crab cages!
The metal itself, if it contained aluminium or magnesium, would burn, not to mention anything made of plastic.
The interior of the house is probably built of plywood and 2x4s, all nice and dry right now. If it had it had flammable foam insulation, that stuff burns like crazy from the smallest spark. It looks to me that the damage to the front of the house is heat from stuff burning inside, but I’m no expert.
Nobody cares about some dumb boat!
What about the owner(s), those who work on the vessel and earn a living there, the insurers, the people who watched “Deadliest Catch”, the Fire Department members who worked to extinguish the fire and prevent its spread to the adjacent vessel, interested community members, etc.?
Not many true Ballardites left any more.
Maybe you should get the facts straight and let them do there job before you come to some conclusion it was intentional. For your information i highly doubt that the two peopke that lived on there along with everything they owned would do that.
WE HEARD ABOUT THIS ON THE CONMAN RADIO SHOW, THEN WE HEARD NOTHING ABOUT WHO’S BOAT IT WAS. THANKS FOR THE PICS AND ARTICLE.
Thanks very much for this wonderful blog;this is the kind of thing that keeps me going through the day.
glad she burned at the dock and not while underway at sea.
as one of the Builders of that vessal i can tell you it was made of just steel no Aluminum ,it had very nice wood work in side no 2x4s but yes it had lots of urethane foam insulation , i bet it had lots of crab bouy’s stacked against the house and with lots of layers of poly paint with burning plastic’s would burn very hot .