An early morning fire destroyed two boats at the Newton Yacht Club Tuesday as firefighters struggled to get water from a hydrant 3,500 feet away.

The fire at the club on the Charles River was reported around 3 a.m., triggering requests by Newtron firefighters for mutual aid from nearby departments, including fire boats from Cambridge and Watertown.

Responding firefighters cut the two burning boats from the dock and let them drift into the river to prevent the fire from spreading, the department noted on its official Twitter account.