Huntington boat fire: Tow captain pulls blazing vessel away from fuel, other boats

A boat caught fire at a fuel dock in Huntington Saturday morning in a scene that officials said could have been worse without the work of a quick-thinking tow boat captain.

Huntington Fire Department Assistant Chief Matt Getter said the department responded around 10:45 a.m. to Wyncote Club on West Shore Road for a boat fire.   

Getter said Capt. Mike Langenbach, of Sea Tow Huntington, saw the smoke from the fire and quickly got an anchor onto the boat and pulled it away from the fuel dock and the other vessels.

"Sea Tow dragged it away from the dock and kept it in the channel away from other boats," Getter said in a phone interview. Langenbach declined to comment. 

The boat, which Getter estimated was about 27 feet long, was towed to Gold Star Beach, where a Huntington Fire Department engine began knocking down the flames from a nearby parking lot. The department's boat assisted from the water. The blaze was brought under control about noon, and no injuries were reported, Getter said.

Images from the scene showed thick plumes of black smoke pouring from the boat, which appeared to suffer significant damage.

Garrett Chelius, Huntington’s director of maritime services, said Sunday it’s not clear what caused the fire. 

Chelius said he is still trying to contact the owner of the boat, who apparently lives in New Jersey. No one was on the boat at the time of the fire, authorities said.

He added that Rich Van Stry, the marina manager at Wyncote Yacht Club and a retired FDNY firefighter, battled the boat fire from the dock. He and Langenbach were "the real heroes of the day," Chelius said.