Torrevieja firefighters extinguished a fire on Tuesday morning on a recreational boat off the coast of Torre de la Horadada.

According to sources of the Consorcio Provincial de Bomberos, at about midnight residents reported seeing a small explosion at sea. They alerted the emergency services explaining that they thought that it looked like a yacht had caught on fire.

Although firefighters from the Provincial Consortium were alerted, they didn’t initially attend, having been informed that the matter was being dealt with by the Maritime Services. However at approximately 0140hrs they were once again requested to attend the scene as the boat had reach the shore at the Paseo de la Torre de la Horadada where it continued to burn.

The bomberas were required to attend the fire from the sea as they were unable to secure access from dry land. They spliced several hoses together and waded into the sea to finally put out the fire and avoid material damage to the adjacent walkway.

Although here was one crew member on board the yacht at the time of the explosion he was said to be unharmed, although forced to abandon the vessel and swim the 400 metres to the shore.