Four boats sunk to the bottom, two were destroyed and two others were damaged Wednesday at the Palms Harbourside Marina after a massive fire broke out shortly after 1 p.m.

Ron Dawley, assistant chief of operations for Nanaimo Fire Rescue, said more than 20 firefighters were dispatched to fight the blaze that was quickly spreading to other slips.

“At this point we have no known victims,” said Dawley after the fire was contained. “We’ll be using an RCMP dive team to go down and confirm that once it is safe, probably later on [Wednesday evening].”

It is likely a propane explosion caused the fire, but Dawley said it would take further investigating to confirm that.

John Nguyen, owner of the Palms Harbourside Marina, said the recent installation of a state-of-the-art standpipe system likely saved the rest of the marina.

“It did its job,” he said. “Firefighters arrived and were able to tap into the system and bring the fire under control. Half of the marina would have gone up if it wasn’t for the standpipe.”

There were no liveaboards in the marina.

Nguyen opened the marina about a year ago and just recently sold the last of the berths.

He said it is mandatory for all boat owners to have insurance. His own policy covers up to $5 million.

Nguyen said the fire started in berths 19 and 20, the two furthest out in Newcastle Channel. At least four of the 20 covered berths were completely destroyed. He added that part of the main dock and some uncovered slips may also have suffered damage.

Firefighters were on scene just minutes after the fire started. A thick cloud of black smoke steadily rose over the area as dozens of bystanders looked on.

Seventy minutes after the fire started, firefighters continued to pour water on the sheds as two destroyed power boats continued to smolder in Newcastle Channel.

“We were on a roll,” said Nguyen. “Things were going well and then this, but we’re lucky there were no injuries. That’s the main thing.”