FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A boat explosion at a Fort Lauderdale marina left one person dead and six others injured, authorities said.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the incident occurred Monday evening at the Lauderdale Marina, located at 1900 SE 15th Street. Officials said the explosion happened when the engines of a 37-foot vessel were started, igniting a fire that spread quickly.
The tense moments were captured by Fort Lauderdale firefighter’s helmet camera.
“There’s two boats on fire,” said the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Captain. “Dude, we got a third one right there. I got a bunch of people hurt on the ground over here too.”
Sebastien Gauthier, 41, of Quebec, was among the seven passengers on board. Gauthier died from his injuries, FWC officials confirmed.
The other six occupants were taken to local hospitals for treatment. Three suffered traumatic injuries and were transported to Broward Health Medical Center. They are now in stable condition.
Deputy Fire Chief Garret Pingol of Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said his team received multiple calls about the explosion, describing the chaos that unfolded.
“A boat explodes. There’s a boat on fire and there were people on the water,” Pingol said.
Video from witnesses showed flames engulfing the vessel and spreading to a second boat docked nearby. EarthCam footage appeared to capture a person slipping into the water during the fire, prompting a multi-agency search effort.
“In conjunction with Broward Sheriff’s Office law enforcement, multiple dive teams are in the water and are searching multiple potential areas where the person might be missing,” Pingol said.
Later that evening, dive teams located Gauthier’s body in the water.
Witnesses described the blast as loud and terrifying.
“It was like a boom, kind of, and I turned around and the whole dock was already on fire,” one witness said.
“I heard it, obviously! It was loud, man. It was crazy!” another witness said.
Maria Sans, who was on a nearby boat with her family, said they had to evacuate quickly.
“I was screaming, screaming, and then they told us we have to get out right away. I was trying to focus to see where my family was,” Sans said.
Tamer Dimiati, a waiter at 15th Street Fisheries, a nearby restaurant, said he rushed to help after seeing the explosion.
“I was actually taking an order as soon as the boat exploded,” Dimiati said. “All I saw was the boat just explode, and the top of the boat went up, and it came back down, and the boat went into flames. I ran out there to try to see if anybody needed help. One guy was on fire, and another person was in the water; I mean, it was like chaos. All at once, everything was happening. The people we pulled out of the water had burn marks on their arms and on their legs; I mean, it was glass everywhere. Fiberglass, regular glass. The explosion hurt a lot of people that were around the boat as well, not just the people on the boat. It was sad. Me and my manager went out there; we turned off the switch that cut off the fuel, and then we got the water going, and we sprayed it down with water. I tried to help out until the firefighters came over. I bolted out there trying to help somebody. That was my first reaction. I saw my manager go out there, so what I wanted to do was try to help and see if anyone needed help.”
The marina, a refueling station, was the site of a similar fire earlier this month.
The fire was extinguished shortly after the explosion.
An investigation into the cause is underway, with FWC taking the lead in the case.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.