Copra is dried coconut which is harvested for coconut oil. Many people in the villages get the coconut, dry it in a smokehouse and then bag it and bring it in to sell to a buyer in Alotau. The copra is then loaded onto a boat and shipped off to other parts of the country. The day before the fire, Tim inadvertently captured a photo of the copra boat full of bags, and bags, and bags of copra (center pic-behind the Kwadima). On the night of Kylah's birthday party, the cargo internally combusted with the heat of all the coconut. Sadly, the fire began deep in the boat and wasn't detected until it was too late. The futile efforts to put out the fire amounted to nothing and the captain bravely piloted the boat away from the wharf and into the bay before abandoning ship. Thankfully no one was hurt. The fire burned all night and the town watched waiting for the ship to sink. Amazingly, in the morning we woke to black smoke in the distance and the steel boat continued to float.
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