$450,000 Cabin Cruiser Hit by Blast, Fire Off Catalina, Sinks

AVALON — A $450,000 cabin cruiser was destroyed by fire Sunday, forcing three men, including one person who lived aboard the vessel, to abandon ship, a lifeguard said.

The fire broke out aboard the 60-foot cruiser Escapade off the west end of Santa Catalina Island in an area known as Ribbon Rock shortly after 1 p.m., Lifeguard Lt. John Stonyer said.

The fire gutted the cruiser, which was later declared unsafe by Coast Guard investigators and allowed to sink, Stonyer said.

The owner of the vessel, Lawrence Schnell, 52, who also lived aboard the cruiser, told authorities that he and two companions had smelled smoke near the bow of the ship and opened the vessel’s hatch to investigate.

An explosion then blew out the ship’s windows and engulfed the vessel in flames in a little more than a minute, he said.

Schnell, Jim Medlin, 28, of Huntington Beach and Scott Medlin, 26, of Sunset Beach fled aboard an inflatable raft and were rescued by crew members of a passing vessel, Stonyer said.

The cause of the fire, which appeared to have started in some electrical wiring, was under investigation, Stonyer said.