Boat Explodes on Lake Lanier While Refueling

An explosion happened on Lake Lanier over Mother’s Day Weekend. Two teenagers and an adult were seriously hurt along with other injuries. WSB explains what happened.

A boat refueled that afternoon at the gas dock of the Port of Indecision, part of the Margaritaville Resort complex. For reasons under investigation, the boat exploded, catching other vessels on fire as well as a nearby dock. Six people in total were injured.

The two teens, a 16-year-old and a 13-year-old, were airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital. Another woman had to be taken to Grady by ambulance. All the other injured people refused medical care.

Now that the weather is warming up, more people are going out onto Lake Lanier, Lake Allatoona, and other bodies of water. Here are some safety precautions to take when refueling your boat.

• Turn your boat off and remove everyone from the boat before refueling.
• If you have multiple decks, close all the hatches and ports to keep fuel fumes from settling down.
• Fuel up only at a fuel dock, if possible.
• Make sure the metal nozzle contacts the fuel deck pipe to avoid static electricity buildup.
• Never overfill your tank.
• Once full, turn the engine compartment blower on for at least 5 minutes to clear out fumes in the engine compartment.
• Finally, do a sniff test of all enclosed areas to check for fumes.

If you don’t smell anything after all this, it should be safe to turn on your engine. Enjoy the water, but make sure to follow safety regulations so everyone comes home safe.