RedactedNarrative: On thursday, may 12, 2016 at approximately 3:30pm, a vessel fire occurred on lake norman in a cove approximately one-half mile southeast of the peninsula yacht club.  The vessel was a 2009, 23-foot jc neptune pontoon boat that was anchored at the time of the incident.  The operator and a passenger were on board the vessel at the time the fire erupted. Neither the operator nor the passenger were injured in this incident. 
  
  At approximatley 10:30am on may 12, 2016, the operator of the vessel and the passenger arrived at waterstreet marina of lake norman to go boating on their 23-foot, jc neptoon pontoon boat. The weather was clear and sunny with a high ambient temperature of approximately 85 degrees. This was their first time taking the vessel out this year. 
  
  The vessel would not initially start due to a dead battery, so they took time to charge the battery and clean the boat.  At approximately 2:00pm, they were able to start the outboard engine and left the marina. The vessel fuel tank was approximately half full, so occupant decided that they should fill the tank in order to get fresh fuel for the outboard engine.  Occupant stated that she believed the tank was three-quarters full when they docked the boat for the off-season, but it was now down to half a tank of fuel. They navigated to kings point marina to fill up the fuel tank. 
  
  After filling up with fuel at kings point marina, operator navigated the vessel to a cove near the peninsula yacht club.  Operator stated that the engine was slightly skipping, but she thought this could be due to it being the first time the engine was operated since last boating season.  Once they arrived in the cove, they anchored the vessel and turned off the outboard engine.  Once anchored, operator jumped off the stern (rear) of the vessel to swim.  As she began to climb the step ladder to re-board the stern of the vessel, operator told occupant, “i think we have a big problem here.” 
  
  It was at this time that operator noticed an extensive fuel leak coming from the fuel line at the stern of the vessel.  Operator boarded the vessel and walked towards the bow (front).  Occupant walked to the rear of the vessel to observe the fuel line and stated that she observed several damaged areas and a hole the size of a “pencil eraser.”  Occupant had a theory that the fuel line could have possibly been pinched at some point due to the tilt and trim movements of the outboard engine.  The hole in the fuel line was located in the stern near the starboard (right) side of the vessel. 
  
   Occupant was on the starboard side of the vessel and grabbed the fuel line to further examine its condition and try to access a way to fix the fuel leak.  As occupant was holding the fuel line, flames suddenly erupted in the stern of the vessel on the port (left) side.  Because the flames were so large, both occupants jumped from the boat as quickly as possible.  Occupant was able to grab a swim float before she jumped from the boat.  Operator stated that the fire was “fast and furious.” Both occupants held on to the swim float once they were in the water.
  
  Vessel operator and witness was anchored approximately 200 yards from the boat that caught fire.  He stated that he heard occupant and operator scream and observed that their boat was on fire.  He pulled up his anchor and navigated towards them.  He stated that both women were holding onto one swim float.  He and his wife were able to help the women board his vessel.  Once the cornelius-lemley fire department vessel arrived on scene, the pontoon was already fully engulfed in flames. The fire department was eventually able to extinguish the fire.
  
  It appeared as though a hole in the fuel line created a large amount of fuel leakage.  A mecklenburg county fire marshall examined the vessel and determined that the fuel was more than likely ignited by an electrical system failure.