Bowen
Independent,
Bowen
Australia,
May
12,
1999
A
family
of
Canadian
round-the-world
sailors
had
a
grandstand
view
of
Friday
night’s
fire
in
Bowen
harbour.
The
Stuemers,
Diane
and
Herbert,
and
sons
Michael,
12,
Jonathan,
11,
and
Christopher,
7,
arrived
in
Bowen
on
Thursday
night
and
were
anchored
in
the
new
marina
area
across
from
where
the
fire
first
started.
Mrs.
Diane
Stuemer
said
she,
her
husband
and
three
sons
had
been
watching
a
television
program
on
big
disasters.
The
final
segment
of
the
program
was
on
the
rescue
of
a
woman
from
a
burning
building.
As
the
program
ended
(about
8:30
pm)
her
husband
heard
what
he
thought
was
a
distant
gun
shot.
He
went
top-side
and
saw
a
small
flame
in
the
boat
harbour.
The
small
flame
rapidly
spread
to
a
larger
one
followed
by
an
explosion
and
an
instant
huge
glow
and
ball
of
flame.
The
heard
a
sound
like
hissing
water.
Mrs.
Stuemer
who
is
sending
back
a
weekly
report
on
their
trip
to
an
Ottawa
newspaper,
immediately
grabbed
her
video
camera
and
started
to
film
the
fire.
She
said
there
were
a
series
of
minor
explosions,
then
a
big
one
and
a
huge
fireball
shot
upwards.
“Half
the
harbour
appeared
to
be
alight,”
she
said.
“The
wind
was
screeching
across
the
boats
and
there
were
huge
clouds
of
black
smoke.
“We
couldn’t
tell
how
many
boats
were
on
fire.
Mrs.
Stuemer
said
her
younger
son
Christopher
was
so
frightened
he
went
below
and
curled
up
on
his
bunk.
Later
Mrs.
Stuemer
went
with
friends
in
a
dinghy
into
the
harbour
and
rowed
around
where
the
fire
was
strongest.
She
said
she
had
doubts
that
they
were
doing
the
right
thing.
But
she
obtained
some
excellent
footage
on
her
video
camera
which
she
later
gave
to
a
television
channel.
Their
short
stopover
in
Bowen
will
be
one
episode
in
their
round-the-world
trip
which
will
not
be
forgotten
in
a
hurry.
To read Diane's report on the fire, read Dispatch 91