Historic Boblo Island boat destroyed by fire along Detroit River

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WEB UPDATE (4:40): Detroit arson investigators say a welding mishap may be the cause of the fire.  

Ingrid Kelley will have more on this story at 5 p.m. watch here at fox2detroit.com/live 

The original story is below.


One of the two historic boats from Boblo Island caught fire at a Detroit marina Friday morning. 

The fire broke out around 11:30 a.m., and the fire was still burning more than an hour later. The boat appears to be completely destroyed.  

It's not known yet what caused the fire, or if any injuries have been reported. 

The SS St. Claire was one of two boats that was used to ferry passengers to the amusement park on Bois Blanc Island. The other Boblo boat, the SS Columbia, was moved in 2015  from Toledo, Ohio to Buffalo, New York. 

You can see photos of the SS St. Claire when restoration began here

The Ste. Claire was featured in the movie "Transformers 4, Age of Extinction" when portions of the film were was produced in Detroit in 2013.

Going to Boblo Island is a fond memory for many Michiganders, and a big part of that memory is riding the Boblo Boat.

Ths amusement park originally opened in 1898. After almost 100 years of entertaining families, the park closed in 1993. 

Twenty five years later, the island is now a community of homes and condos serviced by a private ferry.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the boat fire was at Kean's Marina.

This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 2 for updates.