Overview
- A 45-foot American-owned pleasure craft caught fire on the Canadian side of the Detroit River and U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders received a distress request from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton at 2:56 a.m. on Thursday, July 2, 2026.
- Coast Guard Station Belle Isle launched its 29-foot Response Boat-Small, transferred seven life-jacketed people from the burning vessel, and delivered them to Harbor Town Marina with no reported injuries.
- Commercial salvors and local harbour crews later extinguished remaining fire activity and reported that the burned hull either sank to about 40 feet or was towed out, with no signs of pollution observed.
- Windsor Port Authority camera footage showed the boat fully engulfed and Harbour Master Peter Berry described the vessel as unrecoverable, while ownership was reported as American and the hull burned down to its shell.
- Authorities have not determined the cause and continue to investigate possible electrical or fuel-related ignition sources, and officials urged routine maintenance, accessible life jackets, and properly rated fire extinguishers for recreational boats.