Two men hospitalized after boat explodes at Florida marina-gctid388711

[Guest]

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/18697881/boat-explodes-at-titusville-marina

video in the link

TITUSVILLE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -

The Florida Fish and Wildlife, along with the State Fire Marshal's Office, is investigating a boat explosion at the Titusville Marina. The boat exploded shortly after the vessel was fueled on Monday morning.

The boat's owner, a 68-year-old Christmas man, was transported to Parish Medical Center in Titusville by EMS. He was released having received minor injuries. The passenger, a 75-year-old man from Titusville, was air-lifted to Homes Regional in Melbourne. One of the dock masters who assisted with the fueling was knocked back from the impact of the explosion but suffered no injury.

"When the top of that boat popped off, there was a ball of flame that came out of there like you would not believe," said one witness to the explosion, Jeff Engleberetsen. As of Monday afternoon, he still could not hear out of his right ear due to the loud bang. He said it was so powerful, the deck separated from the hull.

Boater Brian Forsyth was inside the marina when he heard the explosion, so he and several others grabbed fire extinguishers and ran to the marina fueling dock. They found two injured boaters; one of them was still inside the boat.

"We just went ahead and drug him out because the boat was on fire, and while they were squirting the fire extinguishers on it we pulled him out," he said.

FWC officials are investigating a possible problem with the 1987 gasoline powered Wellcraft. Investigators say the two boaters fueled up the cabin cruiser, but had problems starting it prior to the explosion.

Lt. Robert Jefferson, Florida Fish and Wildlife Investigator, said the two, "had ventilated the bilge, started the starboard engine, was starting the port engine, tried to start it three times, and on the third time, the explosion happened."

[Guest]

Davem2421 wrote:

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/18697881/boat-explodes-at-titusville-marina

video in the link

TITUSVILLE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -

The Florida Fish and Wildlife, along with the State Fire Marshal's Office, is investigating a boat explosion at the Titusville Marina. The boat exploded shortly after the vessel was fueled on Monday morning.

The boat's owner, a 68-year-old Christmas man, was transported to Parish Medical Center in Titusville by EMS. He was released having received minor injuries. The passenger, a 75-year-old man from Titusville, was air-lifted to Homes Regional in Melbourne. One of the dock masters who assisted with the fueling was knocked back from the impact of the explosion but suffered no injury.

"When the top of that boat popped off, there was a ball of flame that came out of there like you would not believe," said one witness to the explosion, Jeff Engleberetsen. As of Monday afternoon, he still could not hear out of his right ear due to the loud bang. He said it was so powerful, the deck separated from the hull.

Boater Brian Forsyth was inside the marina when he heard the explosion, so he and several others grabbed fire extinguishers and ran to the marina fueling dock. They found two injured boaters; one of them was still inside the boat.

"We just went ahead and drug him out because the boat was on fire, and while they were squirting the fire extinguishers on it we pulled him out," he said.

FWC officials are investigating a possible problem with the 1987 gasoline powered Wellcraft. Investigators say the two boaters fueled up the cabin cruiser, but had problems starting it prior to the explosion.

Lt. Robert Jefferson, Florida Fish and Wildlife Investigator, said the two, "had ventilated the bilge, started the starboard engine, was starting the port engine, tried to start it three times, and on the third time, the explosion happened."

That is interesting as it seems they did Vent and infact had one of the engine started already. So it doesn't sound like a newbie not venting.

[Guest]

sometimes there's nothing you can do, if it's going to happen it's going to happen...

on a side note I went to High School in T-Ville

[Guest]

The really scary part, is that they did what they were supposed to do and it still happened.

[Guest]

How many of these incidents need to occur before people realize how dangerous gasoline is on boats. Sure, the risks can be managed; but lives would have also been protected had that boat been equipped with a Diesel engine.

[Guest]

Or if people did the basic maintenance and followed the rules. I have yet to read about a true freak accident. They always point to neglect somewhere. I've talked to people who haven't open their engine hatch in a year. I watched a boat go up that had clear plastic hose as fuel lines. Another that was full of automotive parts including a leaking auto fuel pump and auto alternator/starter to ignite it. Etc.

[Guest]

SwampNut wrote:
Or if people did the basic maintenance and followed the rules. I have yet to read about a true freak accident. They always point to neglect somewhere. I've talked to people who haven't open their engine hatch in a year. I watched a boat go up that had clear plastic hose as fuel lines. Another that was full of automotive parts including a leaking auto fuel pump and auto alternator/starter to ignite it. Etc.

That's my point. The majority of people who cause these accidents are stupid. You can't fix stupid. However, the victims (passengers and boats around them) of this stupidity need to be safe. That in itself is (in my opinion) justification for using a fuel that is not easy to ignite with a simple spark.

No matter how safe marine gasoline engines are designed to be, there will always be a dumb a$$ who will go out of their way to save a few bucks and install parts that will put people's lives in danger.

[MidnightSun]

Astral Blue wrote:
How many of these incidents need to occur before people realize how dangerous gasoline is on boats. Sure, the risks can be managed; but lives would have also been protected had that boat been equipped with a Diesel engine.

Hardly any boats catch fire due to gasoline. All fires on boats amounts to only 8% which are classified under fuel leaks which also include diesel fires. It's about as rare as winning the lottery if you ask me. A properly functioning fume sniffer would have eliminated this and probably almost all gas related fires. See stats here. http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/fire/default.asp

[Guest]

It would be cheaper to have fume detectors than force diesel where it's not warranted.

Also this is an economic discussion. Don't say you can't put a price on life, because you make safety compromises all the time, all day, every day. Safety does have a price and we all make decisions on that compromise. Going all diesel would not be an economic winner consider how few real losses are due to gasoline, statistically.

[Guest]

Astral Blue wrote:
How many of these incidents need to occur before people realize how dangerous gasoline is on boats. Sure, the risks can be managed; but lives would have also been protected had that boat been equipped with a Diesel engine.

How about boat safety inspections and maybe even boat operaters license with re-testing when renewals are necessary?

A couple weeks ago there were some other senior citizens up in these parts that flipped their boston whaler trying to pull up a prawn trap. One ended up dying.

[Guest]

Astral Blue wrote:
How many of these incidents need to occur before people realize how dangerous gasoline is on boats. Sure, the risks can be managed; but lives would have also been protected had that boat been equipped with a Diesel engine.

So, clearly everyone should sell their gas boats or repower with diesel.?

Not an option for most. This post is so not helpful.

[Guest]

A couple weeks ago there were some other senior citizens up in these parts that flipped their boston whaler trying to pull up a prawn trap. One ended up dying.

Darwin. Licensing would not have taught them not to do that, get real.

[Guest]

licensing and inspection won't fix the problem as leaks can occur 5 minutes after the inspection and Diesel can explode too. This is one of the areas the government(s) could do something good. They won't as it doesn't bring campaign contributions but making something like the Xintex MB-1 mandatory would be a good start. It should be modified to the point that you can NOT activate the ignition unless the blower has run for a few minutes AND the detector doesn't give alarm.

Pretty simple to design. I have a prototype running which does just this. Have to pot it to make it waterproof and permanently install it. It also turns the blower automatically on if the engine RPM goes below a set point (I currently have it at 1800 RPMs) and off again if it goes above a set value (currently 2100RPM). Also monitors whether the blower draws current. Not the perfect method to make sure it's blowing but better than nothing. Only needs wiring in the helm, nothing to the engine compartment.

If there would be enough interest I could perfect it a bit and make a small "production" run. For my own use I can use it as is embedded in Epoxy. It won't be a commercial endeavor, just a "friends help friends" thing..... Something which could be ready to install as a winter project.

[Guest]

Astral Blue wrote:
How many of these incidents need to occur before people realize how dangerous gasoline is on boats. Sure, the risks can be managed; but lives would have also been protected had that boat been equipped with a Diesel engine.

Ed, are you really suggesting that gasoline-fueled boats should be banned? Fires of any type are rare on boats. So rare that any action you decide to take has to be very economical if it's to add value.

I read somewhere in this thread a mention of putting a price on human life.

Many large corporations do put a dollar value on a life, and it's much less than you might think. They have to do this, or management is left unable to determine if an engineered "safety fix" is worth doing. When I was a relatively junior health physicist, one task I had each year was to update the corporation's current dollar value of a man-rem. That is, I had to assign a monetary value to saving people from radiation dose. This is just a more focussed example of putting a dollar value on a human.

Anyways, to impose more safety controls, you first must be sure that what you're suggesting is "worth it". Forcing diesels into small boats isn't worth it. You'd get better life savings from ripping electric wiring out of homes.

[Guest]

tbqh, if I could repower my 3055 to diesel would I? Maybe with a couple 5.9's, but do you have any idea how much that would cost me? More then I paid for my boat easily, not worth it.

I live diesel engines, always have, but theres no way I could afford to switch my gassers out, I would be far better off just buying a different boat. If I did switch to diesel it in now way would help resale value either, just not at all worth it or cost effective in any way.

Everytime I fuel, I check the bilge for fumes, I regularly check lines and do pre-trip checks. This has worked for me thus far, I also start the engines after refuel with the hatch open. That way if there is a buildup of fumes I will probably smell it, and if it does go BOOM, it wont blow my hatch off or other things, Ill just get a nice fireball shooting out.