MARYHILL, Wash. -- Passengers aboard a sternwheeler that caught fire while cruising on the Columbia River early Tuesday morning are getting a full refund and help returning home because their trip is over, company officials said Tuesday.

Everyone on board was evacuated after the fire broke out and three crew memberes were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, according to Coast Guard officials.

Also, a fourth person was treated by paramedics after he got cold and wet while dousing the flames and showed signs of hypothermia.

The fire started in the engine room of the Queen of the West and crew members were able to get it out before it spread throughout the vessel. Investigators said they did not know how it started.

 Slideshow: Queen of the West photos

Passengers said there was some chaos before they were told exactly what was happening.

"There was a lot of talking and a lot of running around," passenger Jenne Kremer told KGW. Jenne and her husband, Jerry were sleeping when a loud knock at their door woke them up. "I opened up the door and she grabbed me and said come with me it's a real fire, it's a real fire!"

At first, passengers were preparing to abandon ship. But the Coast Guard quickly came to the rescue and helped put out the fire before anyone had to board lifeboats.

About four hours later, a tug boat pushed the ship to the river bank around 5 a.m. and buses were shuttled passengers to the Skamania Lodge nearby. There were 124 passengers and 53 crew members on board the 230-foot paddlewheel ship when the emergency happened.

The Queen of the West sent a distress call to the Coast Guard about 12:30 a.m., when it was near The Dalles. Then, the tug boat tied up its barges and chugged over to the ship, pusing it to Maryhill State Park near Goldendale, where passengers evacuated.

The Queen of The West was eventually moved to the Port of Klickitat, Wash., just upstream of The Dalles Dam, with a crew of 26 essential personnel. There, they will prepare the vessel for a further tow to Sundial Marine in Troutdale, Ore., for repairs.

A team with the Washington Department of Ecology was also testing the water and setting up protective booms in case any oil from the disabled vessel had leaked into the river, according to the Coast Guard.

As for the passengers, the cruiseline met with them Tuesday and said they would each get a full refund, assistance booking their trips back home and a 50-percent discount if they choose to cruise with the company again in the future.

Meantime, they were being kept quite comfortable at the Skamania Lodge, located on the Washington side of the Columbia River near the small town of Stevenson.

The Queen of the West was built in 1995, features a three-story paddlewheel and has a maximum capacity of 142 passengers, according to the Majestic America Web site.

The company offers cruises from Astoria and Portland to Clarkston, Wash., on the Columbia and Snake rivers, as well as on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers between New Orleans and Pittsburgh and between Seattle and the Alaska Panhandle.

Majestic Cruise, based in Seattle, also owns five other vessels, including the Empress of the North, a paddleboat which has had several problems in the past including getting grounded on the Columbia River.

 Background: Empress of the North

In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the ship failed an inspection in February of 2007. There was an investigation into why 26 passengers and seven crew members got sick during a five-day Columbia River cruise in March.

Have you ever been on a cruise on the Queen of the West or did you see the fire today? Click here to send us your pics and video.

(KGW reporters Pat Dooris and Wilson Chow also contributed to this article.)