SEQUIM — A 78-year-old Sequim man injured in a Tuesday afternoon explosion that destroyed his boat moored in John Wayne Marina remained in critical condition Wednesday afternoon after he was treated for serious wounds and back injuries.
Keith Bryant, owner of the 38-foot William Garden-design wooden diesel yacht Escale, was apparently in-stalling a new 15-gallon propane tank when the explosion occurred, said Ron Amundson, marina harbormaster.
“There were two boats on both sides of his that were semi-destroyed,” with about 10 others receiving less damage, Amundson said.
The remains of the Escale floated in pieces in the slip in which the boat had been docked.
“It’s on the bottom,” Amundson said of the boat’s hull, a view of which was obstructed by floating debris — everything from floats to a bar stool.
The upper structure of the craft was obliterated.
Boat owners said they heard the explosion across Sequim Bay, even as far away as Blyn.
Officials of the Port of Port Angeles, which owns the marina, called in a dive and salvage crew from Ballard on Wednesday to help pick up some of the heavier debris and float the hull’s sunken wreckage to the surface.
It will be lifted and towed away.
Oil spill booms were set up Tuesday night to contain any leaking fuel or oil. A small sheen could be seen around the dock Wednesday morning.
State Department of Ecology officials were monitoring the spill containment, and the U.S. Coast Guard investigated the scene Tuesday and Wednesday.
Clallam County Fire District No. 3 and the U.S. Coast Guard were investigating the boat explosion.
No other injuries were reported.
The fire district responded to the 5:48 p.m. explosion at the C Dock at the marina in east Sequim that is named after the late acting icon John Wayne, whose family donated the land for the marina to the Port of Port Angeles about 25 years ago.
Fire District No. 3 spokesman Patrick Young said Bryant was initially transported to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and later airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Both U.S. Coast Guard and state Department of Ecology officials praised the Port of Port Angeles and Fire District No. 3 for their response to the spill from the boat’s wreckage, about 20 gallons of diesel fuel.
“Our part in it was we wanted to make sure the owner was OK,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer Jade A. Cude, who responded to the scene Tuesday night.
“We went out there to look at the pollution to see if it was OK and will be helping with it and monitoring it,” Cude said.
“The port and the fire district did a really good job. They had everything contained when we got there. As of right now, they got it under control.”
Linda Kent, the Department of Ecology’s communications manager, agreed.
She said any signs around the dock of an oil spill sheen, which was visible Wednesday morning, “would be normal in a situation like this.”
She said Ecology representatives responded Tuesday night and will return to assess the spill and any damage to habitat.
“This morning, the situation was stable, and we want to monitor and continue so it remains that way,” Kent said Wednesday.
“This is turning into a cleanup and salvage situation.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
