A 43-foot lobster boat docked in Stonington caught fire and sank on Wednesday morning, pulling down another boat that was tethered to it, and damaging the town dock, according to officials.
The same Stonington family owns both boats and was away on vacation in China when the fire started around 4:30 a.m., officials said.
The cause of the fire is not known and investigators are treating the area as a crime scene, but said there is no sign of foul play.
"Nothing at this point indicates anything suspicious, but we are conducting an investigation to determine the cause, and until we determine that cause, we will consider it a crime scene," Capt. Todd Olson, of Stonington Police, said.
Olson said the fire department had to remove decking from the dock, which made part of it unsafe.
Officials from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection also responded and said some fuel leaked into the water.
“There is a slight sheen coming off of the boat. So there’s a small active leak and we’re going to be working with the Coast Guard and the insurance company to try to come up with a game plan to raise the boat and get the fuel recovered,” Jeff Chadler, of DEEP, said.
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No additional information was immediately available.
