Two 50-foot boats were destroyed in a two-alarm fire at the Edmonds Marina early Saturday morning.

The fire was reported just before 4 a.m. “Two boats moored next to each other were engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived and flames were shooting 50 feet in the air,” said Leslie Hynes, public information officer for Snohomish County Fire District 1, which provides fire and emergency medical services in Edmonds.

No one was aboard the burning boats, but a man and a woman staying overnight in another boat moored at the same dock had to be rescued by firefighters. “The burning boats were moored in the first two slips of the dock, and the flames cutoff the couple’s access to the shore,” Hynes said,. “They were stuck at the far end of the dock in the smoke until they were rescued by the fire department boat.”

Firefighters brought the couple ashore. They were treated by medics for minor smoke inhalation and transported to Swedish/Edmonds Hospital.

Firefighters from Lynnwood and Shoreline responded to assist Fire District 1. At the peak of the fire, about 40 firefighters were on the scene. “The docks were very icy and slippery, which was a challenge for firefighters as they worked to put out the fire,” Hynes said. “They used an overhead water stream from a ladder truck and firefighting foam to smother the flames.”

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to get the fire under control, but crews continued to battle hot spots for about an hour as the boats smoldered and fuel ignited. One of the boats sank as the firefighting effort continued.

Port of Edmonds crews set up booms to contain fuel and other pollutants from the burning boats.

Fire investigators are working to determine how the fire started.