Boat Explosion & Near Miss!

[shade2u2]

I wanted to share this as a friendly safety reminder for all.
I didn't see it but did hear it and FEEL it when it happened...
We were anchored out watching Stern Wheeler races on the Ohio River at Marietta yesterday when a boat exploded after fueling at the Harbor about 200 yds from us but behind the peninsula at the mouth of the Muskingum River. Immediately there was a lot of black smoke and then flames in the air. My heart sank as I new there were many boaters at the harbor due to the weekend Stern Wheeler Festival. Thankfully, we learned that there were no serious injuries to the boaters or dock staff.
Fortunately, the Fire Boat was already on the water monitoring the races and was able to respond quickly.
I spoke to the Dock Master at the Harbor, and he said the boat was just completely filled up with gas and he is pretty sure that the boat operator did NOT turn on his blower before hitting the switch to start the engine. It was a 1986 Bayliner cruiser (26-28') though the make or model didn't have much to do with the incident. Fortunately the boat was already untied and dock staff were able to push the craft off and the current & wind carried it away from the dock and other boats. I'm sure more complete reports will come out soon though there are already conflicting stories on different news outlets.

Here's a picture before the craft was completely put under water by the Fire Boat:


Please use your blowers and "sniffers"! Be Safe.

[GB49]

Had a similar issue happen right next to me last week, without an explosion, thank goodness. My dock neighbor just filled up his tanks and came back to dock and then went home. The port Aluminum fuel tank sprung a leak (I think around a weld seam) and soon his bilge pump was dumping gas into the water. The cleanup company extracted about 5 gallons of gas from his bilge and had to pump his tank dry.
The boat was a Cruisers Inc, I think from the 80s or early 90s.

Be sure to inspect things every now and then and always use "Ignition protected" equipment in the engineroom.

-Karl

[barkleydave]

CLOSE ALL WINDOES HATCHES AND CABIN DOOR

DO NOT RUN BLOWERS WHILE FUELING

PASSENGERS OFF

GROUND NOZEL

TURN ON BLOWERS AFTER FUELING FOR 4 MIN. OR MORE.

INSPECT BILGE FOR FUEL LEAKS AND SMELL.

NO SPARKS SMOKING ETC.

SAFE BOAT ING
DAVE

[Rockit]

Great topic.

Dave:

Let me ask what may seem a stupid question. (And I do the stuff you list.) Why not run the blowers during fueling? They are ignition protected and enclosed so there is no chance of spark. How is running them after fueling any different?

My bilge blower has to have more hours on it than anyone else's at our dock. I not only run the blower after fueling, but also open the hatches and stick my head in the bilge--I don't trust those electronic gizmos as well as my nose.

I run the blower in the locks too. I get quizzical looks, but there is no time to open the hatch before starting up.

Joe

[Fastjeff]

I've often though that would be a good idea.

We had a cheapo timer at the helm set for 4 minutes that we used every time we fired up. Why a timer? You'd be amazed at how long 4 minutes is if you are not actually timing it! The timer died just after we sold the boat; it must have known it was no longer needed.)

Jeff

PS: Please expound on the paddleboat races. I had a friend in Paducah that built a racer years ago and it was really something!

[bill]

You dont run the blowers while fueling because you would be sucking in fumes from the fueling process.

DO NOT RUN THE BLOWERS WHILE FUELING.

FastJeffs use of a timer is a great idea.

bill

[barkleydave]

That is correct bill

[collins69s]

Gonna give my Big Diesels a hug this weekend..

[jtalberts]

My old Kingscraft houseboat was there. A lot of friends were down there. Had I not had the cooling issues, I would ha e made the trip. I have a couple pictures.

[jtalberts]