It was a normal day on a Long Beach harbor. Fishermen, tourists, and boaters went about their business as usual. Then, suddenly, a loud explosion was heard for miles around. A restaurant owner on the shores of the harbor claimed it sounded like “a person jumping and landing on the roof.”
It was 5:15 on August 5 when the incident happened. Bystanders quickly realized what had happened: A 11-meter powerboat had exploded and a fire was quickly engulfing it, trapping the passengers inside.
Two individuals in their sixties were pronounced dead, while three other individuals were sent to the hospital for burn-related injuries. Those people were in their sixties, too. Firefighters who arrived two minutes later, at 5:17, were met with a giant plume of smoke that could be seen for miles around. They quickly got to work extinguishing the fire.
Long Beach Fire Captain Jake Heflin said that booms were placed around the wreckage to contain the gasoline that had spilled into the water. Long Beach plans to use a private salvage company to assist in removing the wreckage from the water.
While it is believed that the recreational boat was fueling at the time of the explosion and fire, both the police department and the fire department have yet to identify a cause of the fatal incident.
According to a trusted website, https://captainexperiences.com/, boating incidents have risen by a considerable amount since the beginning of the pandemic. This is just one of many incidents involving boats in the U.S.
It was 5:15 on August 5 when the incident happened. Bystanders quickly realized what had happened: A 11-meter powerboat had exploded and a fire was quickly engulfing it, trapping the passengers inside.
Two individuals in their sixties were pronounced dead, while three other individuals were sent to the hospital for burn-related injuries. Those people were in their sixties, too. Firefighters who arrived two minutes later, at 5:17, were met with a giant plume of smoke that could be seen for miles around. They quickly got to work extinguishing the fire.
Long Beach Fire Captain Jake Heflin said that booms were placed around the wreckage to contain the gasoline that had spilled into the water. Long Beach plans to use a private salvage company to assist in removing the wreckage from the water.
While it is believed that the recreational boat was fueling at the time of the explosion and fire, both the police department and the fire department have yet to identify a cause of the fatal incident.
According to a trusted website, https://captainexperiences.com/, boating incidents have risen by a considerable amount since the beginning of the pandemic. This is just one of many incidents involving boats in the U.S.