Friday, December 22, 2006

MOTOR IN REFRIGERATOR CAUSED HOUSEBOAT FIRE

12/19/06 12:40 PST

A fire that burned two of three apartment units of a houseboat at the Waldo Point Harbor in Sausalito early Saturday morning was caused by a malfunctioning motor in a refrigerator in a rental unit, Marin County Fire Marshal Scott Alber said this morning.

Alber said the motor either seized or overheated and started the fire around 12:15 a.m. The fire caused $200,000 damage and displaced the three people living on the boat and the owners' son who was visiting, Alber said.

The fire was controlled by 2:30 a.m. The fire displaced a man in his 80s, who was a tenant, and the boat's owners, a couple in their 50s and 60s, Alber said. All three had been living on the boat since the late 1960s, Alber said.

A vacant unit on the boat was not damaged and the owners plan to live there, Alber said.

LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY

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