At 1903 hrs. on 7-20-12 Russell dispatch called and said they had a boat explosion and fire at the middle minooka boat ramp.  At 1922 hours Corp arrived in the area of the burning boat.  After letting the fire settle down, we hooked onto the boat and tried to get it to shore.  We made it about half way there and the boat started sinking so we had to cut the rope.  We then marked it with GPS so the boat could be located again to be removed.  After going back to the dock where the occupants of the boat were located, we got some witness statements.  The operator of the boat stated they were unloading the boat, and when he put the boat in reverse it exploded and started a fire, subject then jumped off of the boat and operator took the fire extinguisher and tried to put the fire out but couldn''t.  Another boater at the boat ramp then gave operator another fire extinguisher and it didn''t help either.  Him and another guy then pushed the boat out so it didn''t start a fire on the doc.k The blowers were on before the operator started the engine.  The float on the carberator either stuck or allowed too much fuel and overflowed which caused the fire .
Dorrance, Kansas              