From the Darwin Awards website and boating related:

And the Gas Tank Is Where?

2004 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
POSTED: 6:47 am EDT April 12, 2004 UPDATED: 10:52 am EDT April 12, 2004
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- Two men were injured when their fishing boat exploded as it left the dock.

Richard Bastiani, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, was transferred to the burn unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and released Sunday, hospital officials said.

Harry Unger, 44, of Fort Lauderdale, was treated Sunday at the emergency room at North Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach and released.

The explosion happened just after 6 a.m. Sunday at the Alsdorf Park boat ramp on the Intracoastal Waterway. The impact threw both men to the deck of the boat before they scrambled to safety, Pompano Beach Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Sandra King said.

"Apparently, they were in a vapor cloud, and that's what caused the explosion," King said.

King said that before the explosion, the men stopped at a gas station to fill up the boat. One of the men apparently pumped the gas through one of the fishing-rod holders, sending the fuel throughout other parts of the boat instead of the fuel tank.

They put the boat in the water at the boat ramp and sparked the explosion when they started the engine. The explosion engulfed the 26-foot boat and destroyed it as well as damaging part of the nearby dock. It took firefighters 10 minutes to bring the blaze under control.


Submitted on 04/12/2004


Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: http://www.wftv.com/news/29951

Copyright © 2004 DarwinAwards.com

"It's what they call, an inboard-outboard, Clark."

Sheesh!

Oh yeah, heard that one. Caught a deckhand about five seconds before he pumped 200 gallons of gas into the water tank on my pop's 35' boat once.

Dan

i gassed up once and forgot to replace the cap. when i got to the launch the smell from a cup or two of spilled gas was enough to make your eyes water. if they pumped gallons inside the boat, i cant beleive the smell didnt get to them! note: if you smell gas, never turn on anything until the smell is gone.

Hi All

This isn't boat related but it was interesting. 8 years or so I was working part-time for the Bothell Fire Dept. One Sunday when I was home my pager went off for a garage fire. As I started heading for the Fire Station I could see the thermal column just north of downtown Bothell. Seems that a guy and his friend were working on the guy's girlfriends Vette. They spilled some gas on the garage floor (newly built garage) and used a Shop-Vac to clean it up. Needless to say the fumes and electric motor were not a good match. The garage was a total loss. The firefighters did a great job saving the house and when we left, the 2 guys were at the end of the street waiting for the girlfriend to get home from riding horses. She had no idea that her garage was gone. And yes, the 2 guys were taken to the hospital for burns.
Now that is a bad day!!

I spent a month on the U.S.S belluwoods after they ( the squids) pumped god knows how many thousands of gallons of jet fuel into the damm water supply while at sea. everything from the instant eggs to the juice and coffe smelled and tasted like jet fuel. and you were just scared to hell of smoking in the head. i hate squids.