A boat erupted into flames in Victoria’s Inner Harbour Wednesday, sending a massive tower of black smoke into the sky that could be seen around the Capital Region.

The boat was at Laurel Point in the Fisherman's Wharf area when it caught fire at around 11:45 a.m., according to Victoria Fire.

A 911 call reporting the blaze came from Victoria Marine Fuels Ltd., a fuel dock located in Fisherman’s Wharf, just after the boat was filled.

Witnesses in the area described a loud explosion “like a firecracker going off.”

The boat’s owner, Doug Foster from Tacoma, Wash., was still on the boat with his partner and they hopped off after hearing the sound – only to realize their dog was still aboard.

“Pretty frightening,” he said. “We couldn’t get the dog off the boat to begin with. The dog didn’t want to get off.”

After wrestling the dog off, the boat was pushed away from the fuelling station just moments before it erupted into flames.

First responders arrived to the 32-foot cabin cruiser shooting flames and pouring heavy black smoke into the sky.

They sprayed the boat with foam as it drifted across the water of the Inner Harbour, and eventually became grounded on the Songhees shoreline.

Fire officials could be heard telling bystanders on the shoreline to clear the area because of the amount of fuel onboard

The blaze shut down the nearby fuel dock temporarily, according to the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority.

It also occurred right in the runway path used by a number of seaplane companies, causing flights in and out of the harbour to be rerouted for a short period of time.

The City of Victoria confirmed at 1:30 p.m. that the fire had been extinguished and the boat had sunk into the Inner Harbour. It was later raised to the surface using airbags and towed to James Bay for further investigation.

The boat’s owners said it was insured, but they lost everything on board including their passports.

The Canadian Coast Guard attended the scene and put up booms in the area to contain leaked fuel.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.