On 12 August, on or around 1100 hours, at the Riverwalk Marina in Decatur Alabama (Limestone County), a boat occupied by 6 adults ( 3 male / 3 female ) and two children ( both males under 12 ) was tied off to the dock and refueling. Prior to refueling, the operator turned on the blower for roughly 3 minutes. He then refueled the boat completely by pumping 57 gallons into a 100 gallon tank. He then ran the blower for an additional 3-5 minutes and while waiting noticed the fuel gauge did not read full even though he just topped it off (hose kicked off with small splatter). He then cranked the starboard engine (did not start on first attempt). The engine ran for a few seconds then an explosion occurred (one witness said it exploded when the operator attempted to start the second (port) engine, but the operator says it exploded seconds after the starboard had been running and he never attempted to start the port engine). The explosion threw two passengers into the water ( two passengers had already exited the boat and were standing next to it at the dock, and two passengers remained onboard during the explosion). The two children were instructed to jump overboard (already wearing life jackets) and did so.
One female passenger was transported by ground to Huntsville Hospital for first degree burns to the face and second degree burns to the legs. The injuries were said to be non-life threatening by emergency room personnel.

An initial inspection by the Decatur Fire Marshall and myself revealed a probable contributing factor: a fuel line hose that runs to the fuel separator was found to be ripped/torn and probably leaking fuel. This hose also runs near/over the battery area (spark).  This is an initial inspection and more work will be done tomorrow once the boat cools down. The injured passenger has since been treated and released from the hospital (1600 hrs 8/12/12)

Decatur                       