OCEAN PINES – The cause of the fire that led to the explosion of a boat in Ocean Pines and injured passengers onboard Aug. 31 was determined to be accidental and blamed on a vapor explosion in the engine compartment.
The Worcester County Fire Marshal’s Office made that determination following an investigation into the boat fire and explosion at 43 Boatswain Drive.
Boat owner Neal Edwards of Springfield, Va., was preparing to take his wife, daughter and two friends visiting from California for a boat ride. He opened all of the hatches and started blowers to vent gasoline that might have accumulated. He estimated the blowers were on for 10 to 14 minutes.
They were on while he went to the house to get a cooler and to notify his passengers it was time to board the 22-foot run-about boat. When his wife, Bonnie, their daughter, Shannon, and friends Dawn Van Deursen and Larry McPherson were aboard, Edwards started the boat’s engine, put it in reverse and then put it in forward to pull away from the dock. An explosion then rocked the boat.
The people aboard either jumped out, crawled out or were thrown from the boat and then helped to the Edwards’ yard by neighbors.
Van Deursen and McPherson were flown to the Bay View Burn Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to be treated for burns to their legs and arms. As of Tuesday, Van Deursen remained in the burn center, but McPherson was no longer there, according to a nurse at Bayview.
Neal and Bonnie Edwards were treated at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury and released that evening. Shannon Edwards, who was seated farthest from the explosion, was treated at the scene.
The boat was a total loss.
The Worcester County Fire Marshal’s Office made that determination following an investigation into the boat fire and explosion at 43 Boatswain Drive.
Boat owner Neal Edwards of Springfield, Va., was preparing to take his wife, daughter and two friends visiting from California for a boat ride. He opened all of the hatches and started blowers to vent gasoline that might have accumulated. He estimated the blowers were on for 10 to 14 minutes.
They were on while he went to the house to get a cooler and to notify his passengers it was time to board the 22-foot run-about boat. When his wife, Bonnie, their daughter, Shannon, and friends Dawn Van Deursen and Larry McPherson were aboard, Edwards started the boat’s engine, put it in reverse and then put it in forward to pull away from the dock. An explosion then rocked the boat.
The people aboard either jumped out, crawled out or were thrown from the boat and then helped to the Edwards’ yard by neighbors.
Van Deursen and McPherson were flown to the Bay View Burn Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to be treated for burns to their legs and arms. As of Tuesday, Van Deursen remained in the burn center, but McPherson was no longer there, according to a nurse at Bayview.
Neal and Bonnie Edwards were treated at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury and released that evening. Shannon Edwards, who was seated farthest from the explosion, was treated at the scene.
The boat was a total loss.