Three-story riverboat catches fire on south Vallejo waterfront

VALLEJO — The three-story Grand Romance riverboat docked in Vallejo caught fire on Saturday, sending a black plume of smoke over the neighboring hillside as some people who had been living on the boat jumped into the water to escape.

The boat has been moored near the old Sperry Mill in south Vallejo since being evicted from Long Beach in 2018. The boat’s owner said he had plans to restore the vessel for dinner cruises, but it has languished on the shore, and several people have reportedly been living aboard.

The city sent a notification at 5:12 p.m. on Saturday alerting city officials that the boat was on fire and said police, firefighters and U.S. Coast Guard officials were on scene. It said that some residents of the boat had jumped into the water.

KRON4 obtained video from a passing boat that shows thick, black smoke spewing from the Grand Romance as emergency vehicles arrive.

The fire department said that the four occupants were all safe and that two of them were assisted by Good Samaritans.

The boat had operated as a dinner mystery theater and party boat in Long Beach until that city revoked its operating permit in 2018 and the Grand Romance was moved to Vallejo.

An archived website advertised dinner and dance cruises, but the boat never opened for business in Vallejo. It has been moored in south Vallejo near the old Sperry Mill with no apparent activity besides people seen living aboard.

Owner William Barker said the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020 delayed his plans to work on the boat. Barker said his plans were more recently delayed when the California Air Resources Board required replacement of its old diesel engine. Barker said he recently acquired a new low emission engine and was making plans to have it installed.

Barker said he still hopes to restore the boat and make it operational, and will now have to find a site where it can be worked on. He said that one caretaker was living aboard, and he was surprised by reports that four people were on board when the fire broke out.

Vallejo City Councilmember Tina Arriola said the mayor had reported a couple of years ago that the Grand Romance was in the queue to go to the Mare Island Dry Docks to be repaired.