Explosion destroys boat, workshop

FRIENDSHIP – An explosion Monday destroyed a 36-foot lobster boat and a boat workshop owned by the town’s oldest active lobsterman, family and fire officials said.

Nobody was home when the explosion occurred, and nobody was hurt, said Fire Capt. Kyle Martin.

Carl Simmons Jr., 77, owner of the workshop and the fishing vessel Lori-Ann-Elly, is the oldest active fisherman in town, his daughter, Jeanette Hayes, said as she wiped tears from her eyes while watching her father’s shop burn. Simmons is also a carpenter, she said.

Hayes said her father was getting the boat ready for the fast-approaching lobster fishing season, and he had a new engine still inside the shop waiting to be installed in the boat. The boat and engine were destroyed.

Martin said the explosion at 115 Waldoboro Road was reported about 1:45 p.m. Monday.

Simmons wasn’t home when the explosion occurred, but returned Monday afternoon to find his boat and shop in ruins, and all his boat-building and carpentry tools destroyed.

Hayes said her father is a strong person and would adjust.

“He’s got family” nearby to help him, Hayes said, noting that his property is insured.

It appears the explosion occurred at the opposite end of the building from where a wood stove was seen, Martin said. He said the blaze could have started inside or outside the building, where the lobster boat butted up close to the wall.

A damage estimate was not available Monday, nor was the cause of the fire known, Martin said.

Martin, who is the town’s full-time road commissioner, was one of the first firefighters to arrive.

When he and another fire official arrived, the building was engulfed in flames, he said.

They immediately tried to save the lobster boat, he said, but wind picked up and the fire quickly began to spread to a neighboring property where an old casket factory once existed. The fire was contained to the neighbor’s grass and did not catch any of the neighboring buildings on fire.

Nearly two dozen firefighters from Friendship and Waldoboro fought the fire. It took 1,500 to 2,000 gallons of water to finally douse the flames, Martin said. Knox County Sheriff’s Department and area rescue crews also assisted.