RedactedNarrative: On Sunday, September 3 rd, 2017 at 0048 hours the Gila County Sheriff''s Office received a 911 call from Operator.  According to the Gila County Sheriff''s Office dispatcher the following information was received from Operator: ** He opened the engine compartment and there were two inch flames coming out of it.  ** The boat was on the dock.  ** There was about 120 gallons of fuel on the boat.  When the dispatcher advised us of the call we were on boat patrol looking for the boat owner due to a previous call regarding domestic violence on a boat.  We were a couple minutes away from the call.  I saw smoke with my night vision goggles prior to the 911 call, but the smoke resembled a large campfire.
  
  At 0112 hours the boat owner OPERATOR was walking up and down the Cholla boat ramp agitated and demanded we turn off the lights of the boat because they were too bright.  The patrol boat did not have firefighting equipment.  OPERATOR''S boat was fully engulfed in flames.  There was an unknown jet ski near the burning boat.
  
  The boat appeared to burn its mooring lines which were suspected to be tied to the Cholla boat ramp courtesy dock.  There was a slight breeze which caused the boat to drift towards the middle of the lake.  The Tonto Basin Fire District responded but the fire chief stated he could not reach the burning watercraft.  I had prior knowledge the fire district does not have firefighting boats.
  
  Deputy and I operated our patrol boat near the burning watercraft in effort to keep other boaters away and to report any wildland fires the boat might cause if the watercraft drifted to the shore of the lake.
  
  At 0409 hours the Fire Chief asked me to provide assistance to OPERATOR due to him telling the Fire Chief he lost everything on the boat and was currently sitting in the Fire Chief''s vehicle.  I asked the dispatcher to call the Red Cross for the purpose of assisting OPERATOR.At about 0500 hour Deputy took over the fire watch of the burning watercraft.  At 0532 hours Deputy reported the watercraft sank at:
  The depth was over 100 feet.
  
  Case status:
  Active, forwarded to USFS.
  