At least 10 people were hurt, including three children, in a flash fire on a boat that was being fueled at a Maryland marina Saturday, officials said.
The 35-foot cabin cruiser was fueling at a dock at Spring Cove Marina in Solomons at around 6:04 p.m. when something ignited the fuel and sparked a flash fire, Katy Hassler of the Solomons Volunteer Rescue Squad Fire Department said.
None of the injuries are life threatening, Hasler said. Eight patients, including three pediatric patients, were taken to a specialty center for treatment, while two other patients were taken to a local emergency room with minor injuries, she said.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police Department said some of the victims were taken to a burn center, and characterized the fire as a "boat explosion." Four adults and one minor were taken to Calvert Memorial Hospital while three adults and two minors suffered burns and were taken to MedStar Washington in Washington, D.C., police said.
The state fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire.
Solomons is a coastal community southeast of Washington, D.C., off the Patuxent River where it meets Chesapeake Bay.
In a separate boating mishap in Chicago, the Coast Guard rescued 16 people from a boat that caught fire north of Navy Pier, the Coast Guard said. Three people were in the water and 13 more were rescued from the 35-foot boat after the fire broke out at around 2:30 p.m, the Coast Guard said.
There were no injuries reported. The Chicago Fire Department said the fire broke out in an area of Lake Michigan known as the "playpen," located inside a breakwater near a filtration plant.
