Quote:
Originally Posted by angus99
I saw a boat burn nearly to the waterline once in front of a crowd on the Tennessee River. Unforgettable sight. It's good for the owners that you and others were alert and called it in.
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When I was a kidlet I'd just come into the dinghy dock (lower and opposite the fuel dock) when a boat blew just opposite me. Those were my first broken ribs. The force picked me up and slammed me down on the dock. I didn't hear a thing. My folks took sheets and wrapped my ribs for a while and I remember they wrapped 'em too tight. I got better so maybe not.
It's odd though, what the mind remembers. For years I thought it was a 55'er but after mother passed I found a newspaper clipping. The boat was just 32' and yes, she burned to the waterline. No one died though the man was burned badly and his wife not-so-much.
It was a good thing that folks had on the VHF. The TowBoatUS guy Russell heard my broadcast and headed right for the shrimp boat. His worker has a boat at the next dock! He was first "on scene" though I'm not certain if his call or Kim's got to 9-1-1 first.
Those two are the heroes. They knew how to get help and where to direct it. Still, if the boat in question had been anything but steel the outcome would most likely have been very different.