Posted on 12/23/2024 5:49:07 PM PST by janetjanet998
Several people were injured and another was missing in the water after an explosion on a boat Monday at a marina in Fort Lauderdale, fire officials said.
It happened just before 6 p.m. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said they received multiple 911 calls reporting the explosion at Lauderdale Marina at 1900 SE 15th Street.
Boom
Can’t tell if it started in rear near the engine but center/front lit up real good
Video
Boat explosion and fire - Fort Lauderdale, FL marina
https://rumble.com/v62bk38-boat-explosion-and-fire-fort-lauderdale-fl-marina.html
Wow
If anyone was trapped below they didn’t have much chance of survival.
Hope it wasn’t the Busted Flush...
I’m a journeyman ship wright.
I know how to build and operate pleasure craft.
This was classic case of idiocy.
You always put “Sniffers” and explosion proof
ventilation in your bilges.
I had a propane leak once sniffer shut it down and it took 4 hours to get the propane cleared out.
I had barbecue that day(open air).
Another reason to choose outboards if they work for your size boat.
Below decks filled with gqsoline fumes.
Looks like they were casting off and someone started the engine before running the blowers for a good while first.
As you said, I suspect fumes built up and the blower/vent was not running. Rookie mistake if that's what occurred.
Gasoline fumes are extremely dangerous. It’s something the public deals with daily. The lower explosion limit (LEL) can be set off by static electricity, which is what may have happened here. If Florida is under the same high-pressure system that we are here in Texas, that means the air is very dry, and static electricity can be a factor.
Probably more power than the original engine.
If they were having a December cold spell, dry air is possible, even though they are less than a mile from the Atlantic Ocean.
Current Lauderdale temp and humidity: 76 F and 64%
TWA Flt 800?
Travis McGee used to dock at Bahia Mar.
That's about one mile north and east from the explosion, just a hundred yards from the public beach.
I have not thought about Travis McGee in many, many years.
So much for those pesky bilge vent pumps.
The fire was caused by an accumulation of gas in the bilge. It’s identifiable by the way the boat separated in the explosion.
I think I’ve read all of John D. MacDonald’s books, and I own copies of most of them. Anyway, Travis McGee would definitely have had enough sense to avoid an accidental explosion, though I believe the Busted Flush was bombed on one occasion. Don’t recall which book, and I don’t feel like digging it out right now.
In any case, McGee has to be at least 90 by now, but I like to think he’s still living at Bahia Mar at slip F-18.
I decided to look that up and was rudely reminded that Frank played Tony Rome, a Miami retired cop who also lived on a boat.
Rod Taylor and Sam Elliot both played Travis McGee.
Katharine Ross (The Graduate, Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid) also played in one Travis McGee movie.
I never saw a Travis McGee movie. As a rule, if I enjoy a book, I won’t see any movie made from the book, or even using its characters.
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