Several boats are nothing more than burned messes after a fire at Lake Monticello in Fluvanna County.
Those flames damaged or destroyed six boats, making it a rough start to the boating season ahead.
Neighbors say the first boat caught fire around 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, and the others quickly followed suit due to the wind.
In the aftermath Thursday night, some people in the boating community are thankful that their property was undamaged, while others are dealing with a lot more.
Many of those six boats are completely destroyed, while others are charred and will need extensive care following the flames on Thursday.
“This is a quiet little community and not much happens here, so this is a big event for Lake Monticello," says Marcia Luniewski, who owns a boat in the Lake Monticello community.
As soon as she saw photos on Facebook of the flames engulfing the boats, she panicked.
“I told my husband, we need to go check,” says Luniewski. “We need to go check on our boat."
Her boat was safe, but she discovered friends' pontoons weren't as lucky.
“A boat is for pleasure and this is such a perfect place to enjoy boating, so to start the season out with your boat being gone is kind of sad,” says Luniewski. “But the great thing is that no one was injured."
The fire started unexpectedly Thursday afternoon on one of the docked boats. The fire burned the ropes on the boat, which caused many blazing boats to drift away and the dock to burn - leaving six families left to pick up the pieces.
“It might be difficult for the owners to identify the boats that are theirs because of the extent of the damage to them,” says Tom Boisvert, the Lake Monticello police chief. “They're totally destroyed."
Despite a sad day for some boaters, neighbors say this won't affect the summer season and they'll be there for those who lost everything.
“Everyone will take them on their boats, and people will be fine here,” says Luniewski. “We take care of each other here."
One family that lost their boat says many memories were made on the lake and in their boat, and didn’t wish to speak on camera.
No explanation has yet been attributed to the cause of the fire.
Those flames damaged or destroyed six boats, making it a rough start to the boating season ahead.
Neighbors say the first boat caught fire around 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, and the others quickly followed suit due to the wind.
In the aftermath Thursday night, some people in the boating community are thankful that their property was undamaged, while others are dealing with a lot more.
Many of those six boats are completely destroyed, while others are charred and will need extensive care following the flames on Thursday.
“This is a quiet little community and not much happens here, so this is a big event for Lake Monticello," says Marcia Luniewski, who owns a boat in the Lake Monticello community.
As soon as she saw photos on Facebook of the flames engulfing the boats, she panicked.
“I told my husband, we need to go check,” says Luniewski. “We need to go check on our boat."
Her boat was safe, but she discovered friends' pontoons weren't as lucky.
“A boat is for pleasure and this is such a perfect place to enjoy boating, so to start the season out with your boat being gone is kind of sad,” says Luniewski. “But the great thing is that no one was injured."
The fire started unexpectedly Thursday afternoon on one of the docked boats. The fire burned the ropes on the boat, which caused many blazing boats to drift away and the dock to burn - leaving six families left to pick up the pieces.
“It might be difficult for the owners to identify the boats that are theirs because of the extent of the damage to them,” says Tom Boisvert, the Lake Monticello police chief. “They're totally destroyed."
Despite a sad day for some boaters, neighbors say this won't affect the summer season and they'll be there for those who lost everything.
“Everyone will take them on their boats, and people will be fine here,” says Luniewski. “We take care of each other here."
One family that lost their boat says many memories were made on the lake and in their boat, and didn’t wish to speak on camera.
No explanation has yet been attributed to the cause of the fire.
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