Fort Lauderdale yacht fire injures 13, causes explosions over New River, fire officials say
Explosions were heard over the New River in Fort Lauderdale Thursday, as a pleasure yacht caught fire injuring more than a dozen people.
Just before 2 p.m., Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue received several calls of a boat on fire near the Lauderdale Marine Center, on Southwest 20th Street, Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan said.
While firefighters were on their way to the scene, more calls came in of explosions being heard and people in the river. Bystanders and civilians had been using their boats to save those who jumped into the New River, Gollan said.
When fire crews arrived they were met with a challenge as the 41-foot Wellcraft pleasure yacht had drifted down the river and survivors were rescued and taken to random locations along the river. A few bystanders were able to stop the drifting yacht by pinning it to a seawall using a small work barge.
Using the combined resources of Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, Fort Lauderdale police, Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue, the Florida Wildfire Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard, the situation was brought under control.
Of the 21 people who were on the yacht, 13 had various burn injuries and of those injured two had severe burns. One of the people with severe burns was in a life-threatening condition while the other had critical but non-life-threatening injuries.
As of Friday, there are still two people hospitalized at Jackson Memorial Burn Center in Miami, Gollan said.
The Florida Wildfire Commission had taken over investigating what happened.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 2:43 PM.
