meanwhile all that is left now are the
memories the SS st. Claire one of the
two Bob Lowe boats went up in flames
this afternoon leaving nothing but a
hollowed-out shell now take a live look
at the wreckage from Sky 4 you can see
the extensive damage this fire did to
the boat and now we're learning what may
have caused it and from the reaction
we've seen today so many folks are just
sad over losing this relic of good times
had by thousands of Metro Detroiters
let's bring in Sean ley who's live on
the Detroit River with a different
perspective of the destruction that
we're seeing but this went really
quickly Sean we were here when it did go
up so much history going up in flames so
many great memories we're on the Detroit
River as you mentioned we want to give
you at home a big view now of what the
Bob Lowe boat looks like at this very
moment listing to one side a lot of the
boat on top there just destroyed you see
the Detroit Fire boat putting so much
water on it it's listing we're hearing
that the boat may be grounded here in
this shallow area of the Detroit River
watching the boat go up in flames from
just a few feet away at the marina to
doctors who bought the boat who were
putting money into it to restore it and
their plans it just was not to be she's
a Detroit icon and you know with we were
hoping to bring her back the historic
st. Claire lovingly known by so many as
the Bob Lowe boat burned Ron kethu and
his family watched so many people's
wonderful memories going up in flames
but also Coutu streams of restoring the
boat was vanishing before his eyes got
you and his partners to keep Nakada arm
have been putting money into the boat
and had big plans for the bob low it was
on the stile juh and I mean and you know
I'm people calling us all the time and
saying when is the book gonna be done I
want to bring my kids my grandkids
because this is where I might I met
their grandfather or you know those
stories are endless and
and you know to see her end up like this
sad day for everybody not just us local
for photojournalist Alex at well took us
on this wonderful tour of the Bob Lowe
boat just two years ago so many fond
memories for thousands who took the boat
for day trips to Bob Lowe Island since
new decking has been installed the plan
was for tours to start in just months
then a haunted house and eventually a
restaurant to bring new memories those
plans going up in smoke even though we
owned the boat but we know how much is
building his clock we get calls all the
time people telling us in emotional
stories about how the what the boat
means to them and it's just hard to see
her like this I know back here life take
a look at your screen because the next
fact we're learning out here is gonna
blow your mind the captain of the
Detroit Fire boat you're seeing right
there
who brought the Detroit Fire boat up
here to put the fire out on the Bob Lowe
boat he used to be the captain of the
Bob Loeb boat creating so many of those
memories so I had to be surreal for him
to bring the fire boat here to put it
out a couple of other things Devin and
Kimberly we want to point out since our
last report there was a call here that
the fire boat took too long to get here
and should be manned 24/7 365 days a
week one clarification we want to make
the river ice is over so the fire boat
is taken out of service the Troy Fire
Commissioner called us he says they are
working on buying a second fire boat
that would be exclusively go to River
rescue so this boat could concentrate on
fires as well again we talked about
memories coming up at six o'clock plenty
of people came here to take pictures and
to say goodbye to the bob low boat we'll
hear from them at 6:00 well Shawn you
mentioned how quickly this went up
though I imagine even if they could have
gotten there sooner it would have been a
tall order to contain the damage here
right and there's a couple of things
we're learning about that the owners
said they had completely redid every
done the wood of the Bob Lowe boat
everyone has been on there knows that
wood working and how it rotted and then
they took it out so a lot of wood a lot
of fuel and it just went fire department
sources we're watching along with I saw
and clickondetroit.com the live video
stream said those firefighters couldn't
get anywhere near it if they got on the
dock the bob low boat could shift dark
break they could go in the water and the
fire boat is a tug it goes five knots so
we get they call the crew they get on
the boat and they come so it does take a
while to arrive you're right and just
stunning that the captain of the one
pote used to be the captive the other
amazing stuff all right Sean all day
long we've been reading reading on so
many of these memories of the Bob Love
Boat that have been shared on
clickondetroit.com and our local for
facebook page so many memories indeed
and we've compiled a walk down memory
lane with the Bob Lowe boat for you you
can find a compilation of all the
stories over the years on the boat its
history and its restoration just click
the link on the homepage