The Duck Boat was operated by Ride the Ducks San Francisco. Photo: Ride The Ducks
SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday rescued 14 passengers from a Duck Boat after it caught fire in San Francisco Bay.
The amphibious duck boat tours are a popular tourist attraction providing land and water tours in many major U.S. cities including San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Branson, MO, to name a few.
The Coast Guard says that it received a call at about 5:30 p.m. from a San Francisco Duck Tour boat after smoke was spotted coming from the engine compartment while underway along the San Francisco waterfront.
When Coast Guard and fire department assets arrived on scene, all passengers were wearing personal flotation devices and the fire suppression system onboard the tour boat had been activated.
A rescue boat crew took 14 of the passengers to Pier 52, and a vessel salvage company, West Star Marine, towed the tour boat back to Pier 52.
There were no reported injuries and the Coast Guard is investigating the cause of fire.
In July 2010, two Hungarian tourists were killed when a barge crashed into their duck boat tour in Philadelphia.