How fast can a marine fire wipe out everything? How about 45-seconds

According to a report from Brandie Hooper Alred, Historic City News learned that 45-seconds is all it takes to lose it all.

But due to an unknown good samaritan at the scene and nice work yesterday by members of the St Augustine Fire Department, St Johns County Fire Rescue, St Augustine Police Department, Florida Fish, and Wildlife Conservation Commission, United States Customs and Border Protection, and St Johns County Sheriff’s Office, Brandie is still alive to tell her story.

Chris Pacetti has asked for anyone who knows the whereabouts of, or how to identify, the Good Samaritan that picked the victims out of the water, to message him on Facebook or contact him through the St Augustine Fire Department.

Alred wanted to extend a big “Thank You” to all the people who helped them during this time. “We can’t thank you enough,” she wrote.

“We are safe from our boat catching on fire,” Alred reported about 8:00 p.m. last night.  “We lost everything, so we don’t have a way to contact anyone.”

She was reporting the early-evening fire that occurred about 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 3.

“The boat went up in flames in about 45-seconds and I only had time to grab one life jacket,” a post on her Facebook page said.  “Just wanted to let everyone know.”

Photographs shared by Chris Pacetti, Operations Chief at the St Augustine Fire Department, with aerial photos by BJ Hall, Station 56, Jacksonville Fire Department.