Perseverance After Vessel Fire

Dan Tucker • November 6, 2024

Fishing Vessel 'Alaskan Girl' and crew persevere after fire

Brannon Finney, Captain of F/V Alaskan Girl, and her crew. The vessel is not just a workplace, but a home for the crew and Capt. Finney.

Photo: Brannon Finney

The F/V Alaskan Girl suffered a significant fire early Sunday morning, October 27th in Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham WA. The fire is thought to have started from a chest freezer outside. The chest freezer was relatively new, kept under cover, and elevated off the deck. The storm that night is thought to have contributed to the failure of the freezer and subsequent ignition of surrounding materials. There were no injuries, though the vessel sustained north of $400,000 in damage.

F/V Alaskan Girl suffered a fire early in the morning on Oct 27th. Photo: Brannon Finney

Repairs will likely take months but for now, owner Brannon Finney refuses to give up on this year’s lucrative salmon season. “Insurance will not cover our lost wages. I’ll be $100k out of pocket by the time deductible, increased rates, and missing fishing time are tallied. ‘We can work around it’ has been the quote of the week as we find more and more things to overcome.”

Finney and crew put in 18-20 hour days, for the better part of a week, to get cleared by fire marshalls and several Coast Guard agencies. They had to remove two dumpsters of debris, repair their equipment, pump out sea water from the fire suppressing, and try to make the boat livable enough to get through the last two-to-three weeks of the biggest salmon season northwest Washington has ever seen.

The damage after the fire was extinguished. The vessel is currently still operational, though repairs are expected to exceed $400,000. Photo: Brannon Finney

“I thought her season was done. Everyone did. I should have known better than to underestimate her,” says fisherman Pete Feenstra who responded to the fire Sunday. Finney and crew were back on the grounds in time for the seine opener Thursday in Halloween costume with cookies to hand out, spirits high, just as usual. They are working around a charred deck, still broken or missing equipment, and considerable decline in living conditions with out interior electricity, running water, or heat.

"I want to express our deep sympathies and support for Brannon," wrote Coalition President Lange Solberg in an email the Coalition Board of Directors on Monday, "Boat fires don't happen often, but when they do, they are certainly scary and very impactful, especially during an active fishing season like it has been for the F/V Alaskan Girl and her crew."

“It’s not comfortable, but we can do anything for two weeks.” Captain Finney says she is motivated by the fishing families relying on them. “Our fishermen don't get to fish if no one is there to buy. We can’t let them down.“ The F/V Alaskan Girl is under way again to tend to the Hood Canal tribal gillnet fleet, burnt but not broken.