By ANDREW CANGIANO

Four boats were destroyed and two others damaged in a fire Monday morning at the Shark River Marina in Neptune.

Two of the pleasure boats, which were destroyed, belonged to Harry Conover, emergency management coordinator for the county. Another pleasure boat, which was also destroyed, was owned by Edward Kirchenbaum, chief of detectives at the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Neptune Police Lt. Drew LaFrance said the police responded to a call shortly before 6:30 am that there was smoke coming from a boat in the Marina near 200 South Concourse Avenue.

The responding officer saw a 21 foot

boat on fire and the fire spread to three other boats, Lt. Lafrance said. One of the three boats, a 36 footer, somehow started itself and pulled out of the slip while it was on fire, LaFrance said.

The boat ran into another boat and damaged it, LaFrance reported. He said the boat finally came to a stop when the Coast Guard pushed it towards land and it finally beached itself.

In total, four boats were completely destroyed by fire, one suffered major damage but is still repairable, and one boat incurred minor damage.

There were no injuries reported.

LaFrance said that when he arrived at the scene at about 7 a.m. the fires had all been extinguished by local fire squads.

He said responding to the scene were the Shark River Hills Fire Company, Unexcelled Fire Company (Neptune), Liberty Fire Company (Neptune), Neptune and Ocean Grove 1st aid squads, the Neptune Office of Emergency Management, the New Jersey State Police Marine Division, and the Coast Guard.

LaFrance said the cause of the fire is unknown so far, but that the New Jersey State Police Marine Division, the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office, and the Coast Guard are all investigating the incident.

The other boat owners whose vessels were involved in the fire were James Kenny, Pat Armstrong and John Aravecz.