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Twisted sheet metal, scorched support beams, and fire stripped boat trailers are the most of what remains on Friday following a fire at Captain Mark’s Bastrop Marina in Demi-John.
Freeport firefighters battle a blaze on Thursday at Captain Mark's Bastrop Marina in Demi-John.
Galen Stokes of Demi-John explains how he came home Thursday to find the Capt. Mark's Bastrop Marina boat storage near his house engulfed in flames.
The site of Thursday’s fire in Demi-John will remain sealed pending investigation into the case, according to Brazoria County officials.
Jose Stokes describes how the smoke from Thursday's fire at Captain Mark's Bastrop Marina turned the sky dark over his home in Demi-John.
Twisted sheet metal, scorched support beams, and fire stripped boat trailers are the most of what remains on Friday following a fire at Captain Mark’s Bastrop Marina in Demi-John.
Freeport firefighters battle a blaze on Thursday at Captain Mark's Bastrop Marina in Demi-John.
Galen Stokes of Demi-John explains how he came home Thursday to find the Capt. Mark's Bastrop Marina boat storage near his house engulfed in flames.
The site of Thursday’s fire in Demi-John will remain sealed pending investigation into the case, according to Brazoria County officials.
Jose Stokes describes how the smoke from Thursday's fire at Captain Mark's Bastrop Marina turned the sky dark over his home in Demi-John.
DEMI-JOHN — The massive fire at Capt. Mark’s Bastrop Marina destroyed more than a storage building. People’s boats and personal effects were consumed by the flames that took firefighters hours to extinguish.
Eight departments sent firefighters and equipment about 5 p.m. Thursday to the 4500 block of Trammel Street in the unincorporated island community. The remnants were of the storage units, one of about a dozen storage buildings at the marina, were taped off Friday.
“I don’t have anything left to store, and I will just wait until they are rebuilt and if I need a unit I will rent one again,” said Michael Johnson, whose unit was among more than 30 affected. “Right now I don’t need one, but I will get a storage unit again. I have been supporting Mark for about five or six years.”
Mark Friudenberg, who owns the marina and storage complex, declined to comment on the fire.
Unlike others whose units were consumed by the fire, Johnson’s didn’t contain a boat. Of the 32 units destroyed, 25 contained boats, Brazoria County Fire Marshal Martin Vela said.
“I had tools, hardware, personal furniture and just personal items,” he said. “Evidently someone made a mistake down there as it has happened here once before.”
Marina employee Clint Fewell said the fire shows why people need to protect their belongings in the event of a tragedy like Thursday’s fire.
“All through life you have options of things that can happen to you anytime, and that is why it is important to have insurance,” he said. “I just insure things so that I do not worry. I am retiring soon and I don’t plan to leave Demi-John after the fire.”
Even though he didn’t have a storage unit, John Prawitz was still affected by the fire, he said.
“I was walking out of the house and white smoke was pouring in,” he said. “My house is now full of smoke because I didn’t turn off my A/C. It smoked me out; it scared me to death — the fire was huge. I don’t want to move because I own the house, even though there was a fire in front of my house.”
The smoke also affected Galen Stokes, who lives near the marina.
“I couldn’t even see; it was burning my eyes,” Stokes said. “It was going in my house. I couldn’t even breathe because of the smoke — I have a 1-year-old and 3-year-old. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I was worried about the fire because it was way too close to my house.”
Stokes isn’t going anywhere, though.
“I’m staying here. I like it around here,” Stokes said. “It’s a family out here; everyone gets along around here. I am not going anywhere.”
Investigators from the Brazoria County Fire Marshal’s Office were on scene Friday morning looking into the cause of the fire.
“The site is going to remain untouched pending insurance investigations,” Vela said. “We are confident that it was unintentional and it was accidental.”
The Demi-John and Oyster Creek volunteer fire departments were the first to arrive at the marina Thursday. Oyster Creek called for backup from Lake Jackson, Freeport, Clute, Surfside Beach, Richwood and Angleton, seeking more manpower and tanker trucks.
They are the same departments called to the island June 26 when three homes were destroyed and others damaged when a fire swept through a stretch of waterside homes on Redfish Lane.
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