A VERY bad day on the lake!

[996scott]

First off, and most importantly, no one was hurt and everyone is just fine who was involved in this. We were at Lake Powell over the weekend down a canyon having lunch and chilling. We were getting ready to start heading back up the canyon to the main channel when a nice Mastercraft came past us (6-7 guys in it ). Within 1-2 minutes of passing us I gave it some gas and started heading off. Immediately someone in my boat yelled and pointed up about 500 yards and all we could see was a huge ball of fire and black smoke everywhere. I booked it as fast as i could go up canyon. There were 3 guys swimming away from the boat and a few more swimming to the rocks. They immediately said that everyone was ok and no one was hurt. They climbed on our boat and we checked everyone out. They said that they all of the sudden heard a loud bang and turned around to see the whole engine compartment engulfed in flames. They grabbed life vests and jumped off and started swimming as fast as they could. Absolutely incredible to see this entire boat engulfed in flames and burning. The tower completely melted and the fiberglass just burned and burned and burned. It was unbelievable to see this happen in person. BE SAFE OUT THERE EVERYONE!!!!

[larry_arizona]

Wow that is unreal, glad everyone was ok and kudos for the fast response your crew provided.

Fuel leak or threw a rod?


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[Isaguel]

Fuel fumes in the engine compartment?
Man, that is crazy. Newer Supra's turn on the blower automatically when starting the engine. Always wondered if I should run the blower periodically during a long day on the lake.

[larry_arizona]

Blower won’t fix a sudden fuel leak on a fuel injected boat.

High pressure fuel pump would flood that hull in a hurry causing a large fire.


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[996scott]

The guy said he believed it was a fuel leak. He said that when they filled up the last time one of the guys said he thought he smelled gas but that they didn't think much of it since "you always get a gas smell when filling up". With 90 gallons of gas on board there was a lot of fuel to burn.

[larry_arizona]

Only place you should smell fuel in a boat is near the gas tank vent.

Even a small leak on a fuel injected boat is a huge problem. Rail pressures are 50-60psi, that will move a lot of fuel into the engine bay if there is a leak.

I check for leaks randomly throughout the season. Just follow the fuels lines with a flashlight.

Right in the manual #5 on checklist.


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[dewey.elsik]

Fuel fumes in the engine compartment?
Man, that is crazy. Newer Supra's turn on the blower automatically when starting the engine. Always wondered if I should run the blower periodically during a long day on the lake.

I believe he said they were under way!


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[Guppydriver]

That must have been incredibly intense to witness. Glad you were there to offer assistance.

[z28ke]

Must have gone up in flames very fast as it appears they didn’t even have time to get the boards out of the racks! Crazy

[zabooda]

Price of these boats you would think they would have a hazardous environment interlock as they cannot make the engine compartment intrinsically safe. Boat manufacturers need to wise up.