LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. — Six people were injured in a boat explosion and fire on Horsetooth Reservoir Saturday morning.
Poudre Fire Authority crews responded to the reservoir around 8:45 a.m.
Witnesses said that a boat had just left the marina and was having some engine trouble. When they tried to restart the engine, it exploded.
"We heard this huge explosion. We didn’t know where it was," said Terrie White, who was at the reservoir at the time of the explosion. "You can just see the boat just burning."
Six people were on board the boat at the time of the explosion. Chris Wolf with Poudre Fire Authority said all six evacuated and swam to shore.
One of the six injured was airlifted to an area hospital. Three others were transported by ambulance. Two people were treated at the scene, according to Wolf.
UPDATE - HORSETOOTH BOAT FIRE: There were six people injured in the boat fire. One was transported by helicopter, three were transported by ground, and two were treated on-scene. Firefighters gained fire control at 10:22 am. Investigation in progress. pic.twitter.com/seH7kaff3m
— poudrefire (@poudrefire) August 8, 2020
A photo provided to Denver7 by Gustavo Smithy shows thick black smoke bellowing from the boat near the marina.
"We saw a bunch of black smoke coming from the marina area. So we went over there to see if we could do anything to help. By the time we got there, the boat was vacated. They pushed it up against the rocks," said witness Jake Gelwicks.
Fire crews gained control of the fire around 10:22 a.m.
It's not clear what caused the explosion.
