quote:
Cooler of drinks on ice – check. Boat full of gas – check. Suntan lotion smeared on the kids – check. Wake board and life jackets loaded – check. Run bilge ventilation fan for at least 4 minutes and open motor cover to ensure no gas smell present – KABOOM!

That’s what appears to have happened on the afternoon of Aug. 23 when a typical family of 4 prepared to launch their inboard powered ski boat at the new Nutbush boat ramp on Kerr Lake near Henderson for an afternoon of wakeboarding and relaxation.

The father, John Barnes of Henderson, is in the Chapel Hill burn center being treated for serious burns to his legs requiring skin grafts. Fortunately, his young son and his younger daughter who were also onboard suffered no injuries, even though the boy was launched into the air from his seat on the motor box and the young daughter was surrounded by flames for several seconds.

The author was a couple of lanes over trailering his craft when the explosion occurred. After briefly considering attacking the flames with a small fire extinguisher he decided to contact 911 before offering assistance.

While in hind sight it would have been smarter to get far away from the burning craft and let properly trained emergency personnel deal with the situation, the wife drove the truck pulling the burning boat up the ramp where the author unhooked the trailer and fully engulfed craft from the truck so it could be pulled away without damage.

Any inboard boat engine will produce some flammable vapor. If this vapor is not vacated from the hull with the powered ventilation system an explosion or fire may result which is not a good way to start a weekend at the lake. Obviously the family would have done anything to avoid this accident, but in their eagerness a brief lapse in judgment led to significant loss of limb and property. Luckily there was no loss of life or more serious injury. Hopefully this information will prevent some of you from enduring the same result.

The attached video shows the boat on fire and rescue personnel arriving on the scene.

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Video

SIAP

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Posted by bayoudude

Member since Dec 2007

25862 posts

Posted on 8/30/13 at 12:57 pm to Yahtzee

Damn that sucks and luckily the children weren't hurt. I am guessing it was a carbed engine.

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Posted by Mid Iowa Tiger

Undisclosed Secure Location

Member since Feb 2008

24086 posts

Posted on 8/30/13 at 1:23 pm to Yahtzee

That sucks. Had a similar thing happen to me years ago but I had the fan running. Turned out there was a fuel line leak. One reason I always had and still do back the boat off the trailer with just me in it.

Always figured if something was going to go wrong it would be at that time. Blew a 24 foot cabin cruiser to hell and it burned down to the water line before going out.

I kicked to boat off the trailer and pulled the truck up the ramp. Still have the scars on my right leg.

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Posted by Broke

AKA Buttercup

Member since Sep 2006

65371 posts

Posted on 8/30/13 at 1:43 pm to Yahtzee

It was 1989 and I was in a 17 foot jet boat with a 455 Oldsmobile engine in it. False river was calm. We were skiing with a few guys (4 total) and one idiot cut the boat off because the rope was going to get caught in the prop. It's a jet boat. Anyway, we couldn't get it started so we were towed to a dock where we spent 30 minutes getting it fired up. And did. And didn't pull the blower fan cable. When we hit plane, the boat blew up. I was looking backwards with my arm on the engine compartment. It blew me over the front of the boat where the boat then ran over me. I woke up under water and knew what had happened. I swam under water for as far as I could. The boat was totaled, helicopter news crews were flying over filming and I ended up with burns and a stay in Point Coupee Parish hospital.

ETA: The boat was uninsured and he still owed $10,000

This post was edited on 8/30/13 at 1:44 pm

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