Vintage Lymans destroyed in Friday fire

Three vintage Lyman wood boats and one fiberglass Lyman were among the boats destroyed by a fire along Billman Drive that destroyed ten boathouses late Friday. "There are piles of wood, fiberglass and motors laying here on shore this morning," Shaun Bickley, the co-owner of Sandusky Bay Cove Properties, which owns the boathouses, said this morning. The boathouses are considered a total loss, Bickley said, and likely will not ever be re-built. Construction regulations require much more solid foundations and cinderblock construction far beyond the pilings and tin structures the fire destroyed."It could have been much worse," Bickley said. "The fire department responded and did an outstanding job. Another minute or two and the fire could have just kept going."*Check back here later for updates. Posted 2 p.m., Aug. 12, 2017Cause of boathouse fire under investigationFire crews were investigating the scene of Friday night's fire Saturday.SANDUSKY — Firefighters were investigating Saturday the scene of Friday night's fire that destroyed several boats and boathouses.Nobody was injured in the blaze on Kaman Drive, which started at around 10:30 p.m., according to Sandusky Fire Department Captain Jason Roesch.Roesch said eight boathouses were damaged, and about five of those were a "total loss." He added six boats were destroyed in the fire.Roesch said the cause of the fire is still unknown."(We're) still digging through everything out there," he said.Crews could be seen using a crane and backhoes to sift through debris Saturday afternoon.Many local residents gathered behind police lines to watch the fire late Friday night. One resident, Shelly Franks, of Cove Street, said she and her family were the first to notice the fire and called 911.Franks said she was at her family's home watching lighting on their back porch when they noticed smoke and flames coming from the rows of nearby boathouses."My husband looked and said 'get in the car, let's go down there," Franks said.Franks, her husband Greg and her daughter Lauren drove to Kaman Drive and noticed the flames "getting bigger."Franks stayed in the car and called 911 as her husband ran along the row of boathouses in danger of being burned and checked inside boathouse doors to make sure nobody was inside.She said her neighborhood is "pretty tight" and her family has friends who have boats at the dock.Roesch said about 25 Sandusky firemen responded to the scene, as well as three firemen from the Perkins Fire Department. Crews used conventional handheld hoses as well as a fireboat to control the blaze.He said the fire was "controlled" by 11:54 p.m. and completely extinguished at 12:30 a.m."(Crews did) a fantastic job knocking that (fire) down," Roesch said, adding it's "one of the bigger (fires)" they've dealt with this year.Watch video from the cleanup below[toutembed=gokfoy]Reach reporter Brandon Addeo at brandonaddeo@sanduskyregister.com, follow him on Twitter @BrandonAddeo and follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterCrews pull the bottom of a Lyman boat from the water Saturday afternoon after a boathouse fire Friday night on Kaman Drive in Sandusky.A crane pulls the remains of a Lyman boat from the water Saturday afternoon. Friday night's fire destroyed multiple boathouses.A fire occurring Friday night destroyed boathouses on Kaman Drive in Sandusky.A fire occurring Friday night destroyed boathouses on Kaman Drive in Sandusky.Crews access the damage from a boathouse fire that occurred Friday night on Kaman Drive in Sandusky.After a boathouse fire Friday night, a crane removes debris from the water Saturday afternoon in Sandusky.