LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Investigators do not believe that foul play led to a fire at the Las Vegas Boat Harbor earlier this year.
On Thursday, the National Park Service held a community meeting with updates about the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. That included an update on the harbor fire from June 9.
WATCH: Early morning fire damages dozens of boats
You may remember the fire started around 12:30 a.m. and was contained by 3:30 a.m.
According to the National Park Service, the Boulder City Fire Department, Henderson Fire Department, Clark County Fire Department, Lake Mead concessions employees, and National Park Service Rangers all responded to the scene.
While the final report hasn't been released to the public yet, Mike Garel, an Assistant Chief Ranger at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, says they don't believe any foul play was involved in the incident.
"The final fire origin is completed and will likely be released within the next week. Hopefully, before the end of this month, the final origin cause will be pushed out to the public," Garel explained. "There is no indication of criminality. I do not, today, have a total dollar amount to share in regards to the damage."
Garel did say that preliminary investigation findings are likely to suggest the fire originated from a vessel slip on the I dock and spread to the R dock.
In total, 25 vessels were damaged and of the 25, 14 vessels sunk to the bottom of the lake.
In addition to that, the National Park Service's fire boat that responded to the scene sustained damage from a pump failure, which happened during the incident. The marina was also damaged.
No major injuries or deaths were reported, in regards to this incident.
According to Garel, clean-up efforts are still underway.
"All destroyed and sunk vessels have been removed from the lake along with a lot of the debris from the fire, including some of the marina infrastructure that ended up at the bottom of the lake."
While a closure order was put in place during initial clean-up efforts, that order has been lifted and owners have been allowed back into those areas as well as visitors and staff.
And as for the future, Garel says they will use this incident as a lesson to learn from.
"The National Park Service and partners will review existing infrastructure and procedures in place to see where we can improve in case this happens in the future," Garel says. "It's good to be familiar with all procedures, in regards to safety at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area."
