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The vessel that played the lead in the movie "The Perfect Storm" took an unscripted turn yesterday morning when a fire gutted the wheelhouse and crew quarters of the Lady Grace in Gloucester.
The 58-foot boat portrayed the ill-fated Andrea Gail in the 2000 film, which was based on Sebastian Junger's chronicle of the October 1991 storm and the death of six crew members when the swordfishing boat sank. Officials say yesterday's fire started when a spark from a cutting torch apparently set the bunk area on fire.
Gloucester's Fire Department deputy, Carl Ekborg, said it took firefighters more than 45 minutes to contain the blaze, which traveled up into the pilot house and destroyed electronics there and on the lower deck. Ekborg called the initial cause "a cutting operation that went bad," but said there will be an investigation.
The vessel had been donated by Legal Sea Foods to the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center in 2002 and was slated to hit the water as a research or tour boat.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/03/24/fire_damages_perfect_storm_vessel/