Woman injured in boat explosion at Pitt Lake
Posted May 30, 2021 4:51 pm.
Last Updated May 31, 2021 7:24 am.
PITT MEADOWS (NEWS 1130) – A woman was taken to hospital with severe burns, after a boat explosion at Pitt Lake Sunday afternoon.
Pitt Meadows fire crews were dispatched to Grant Narrows boat launch around 12:05 p.m. after receiving reports that a boat had caught fire.
Deputy Fire Chief Brad Perrie says crews were able to quickly get the fire under control, however due to the initial size of the fire, one person was injured.
“[There were] five souls on board when the explosion happened … and one person suffered burns to proximately 36 per cent of their lower body — second and first degree burns,” Perrie says.
The injured woman was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital.
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Although unable to confirm the cause of the boat fire, when talking to the boat operator, Perrie says the boat “exploded” when they started it up.
“To me it sounds like a fuel vapor explosion of some sort. Whether they had a fuel leak or they didn’t ventilate the bilge area [in the] boat properly, that can cause that type of explosion in a boat,” he says.
Perrie says that due to a lack of hydrants near the lake, fire crews had to use portable pumps to extingush the fire.
Fire crews were able to limit the amount of damage to the boat dock, with only a few pilings being affected.
“Definitely it was an accidental fire and I think they were very lucky that more people weren’t injured,” Perrie says.
