Woman arrested after boat set on fire

A Newport Beach woman is scheduled to be in court today after being accused of lighting her boyfriend’s boat on fire in Newport Harbor.

Nicole Ann MacDonald, 40, was arrested Sunday after allegedly setting a boat off Channel Road on fire. Firefighters responded about 2 p.m. to the blaze and saw plumes of smoke and flames rising from the vessel. The blaze damaged two nearby docks and the boats next to them as well, fire officials said.

Twenty firefighters, along with Newport Beach police and Orange County Sheriff Harbor Patrol deputies, responded and knocked the fire down within minutes.

Authorities estimate that the fire caused about $150,000 in damage. Fire investigators are calling the fire “suspicious,” said department spokeswoman Jennifer Schulz.

— Joseph Serna