Summary:
- Two women killed, three others critically injured in a boat fire in Long Beach.
- The fire broke out during or shortly after the fueling process, engulfing a 35-foot pleasure craft near Marina Drive.
- Emergency response was swift, but two fatalities and three injuries were confirmed.
- Investigators suspect accumulated fumes may have caused the explosion.
- A hazmat team and the L.A. County Coroner's Office are investigating the cause of the fire.
Two women were killed. Three others were badly burned. The fire broke out late this afternoon and quickly engulfed a 35-foot pleasure craft near the 200 block of Marina Drive in Alameda's Bay. Our Chris Wolf has the breaking details from Long Beach.
Explosion During Fueling Process
Such an awful, awful situation tonight. The explosion happened on that boat during or shortly after the fueling process. A beautiful, calm summer evening was shattered with an explosion on a boat in Long Beach. Fire officials explained shortly after 5 p.m. Something catastrophic happened when a 35-foot pleasure craft was at a fueling dock at Alameda's Bay Marina. The blast rocked the entire area and within seconds witnesses could see flames and thick black smoke filling the air. Pete Halbeth was working on his boat nearby. Working on the boat down below explosion happened. You heard it. Oh yeah.Swift Emergency Response
Did you feel it? Oh yeah. It was very, very loud, very impressive. Everybody got out of their boats and got up on their fly bridges and we're looking around trying to figure out what the heck happened and then you started seeing the smoke. I was enjoying the park and I heard this massive explosion. You know, and I knew it was really powerful one because you could feel the vibration of the thing and then just maybe 50 yards down here. I looked over and I saw billowing smoke. Investigators say five people were on board.Tragic Outcome
The disaster killed two of them and critically injured the other three. There were people floating in the water and but they had to breathe that they were able to hold on to and the one lady got out and I was asking her are there more people on the boat? Are there more people on the boat? And she was kind of in a daze but she finally said yes, there's two ladies on the boat. The Long Beach Fire Department has a station in the vicinity. The emergency response was swift by land and water. They extinguished that fire and unfortunately, of the course in the duration of that fire, we had five patients, two of which are confirmed fatalities, two females in their 60s and then also three additional patients in their 60s, two adults, males and one female that were sustained burn related type of injuries.Possible Cause
So what went wrong? Investigators tell us they believe the victims were either in the middle of fueling their boat or had just finished fueling. There is a possibility that fumes had accumulated and something ignited them. A hazmat team and members of the L. A. County Coroner's Office have arrived on the scene. Disasters like this are rare and fire investigators certainly hope to find the cause quickly in Long Beach.Chris Wolf, KTLA five news.