RedactedNarrative: On 7-4-15 I, ICO were conducting boat patrol on Patoka Lake. At approximately 1650 hours we received information from ICO Dispatch advising of a houseboat that was sinking in the area of the point next to the Beach. Upon arrival, the houseboat was almost completely submerged, and the owner, was on another houseboat that was there. Owner confirmed that everybody was accounted for. 
   
  I boarded the other houseboat to make sure there were no injuries and to determine what happened. Owner stated that they had the boat at Patoka Marina to get fuel and that they encountered a small fire from the main power wiring to the motor. The rubber coating of the wiring was melting and smoking. After that they decided to tie Owner's houseboat to the left side of the houseboat and tow it to the area of the beach to watch the fireworks. While on the way across the lake, Owner stated that they noticed that the boat was listing to the side. They thought that it may have been caused by all of the kid's that were on the same side of the boat. All but two people got onto towed boat.
   
  Owner stated that a short time later the boat started to list hard to the left side. Towed boat subject boarded Owner's boat to determine the problem. Towed boat subject stated that the pontoons were filling with water and that when he turned the pumps on, they could not keep up with the amount of water coming in. Owner and subject2 gathered all of the cell phones and purses and some of the suitcases that were on board the boat and got onto Towed boat subject's boat. They stated that shortly after that the boat had sunk. Owner stated that from the time the boat started to list hard to the time it had sank was a matter of a couple minutes.
   
  When asked what she thought caused the problems, Owner stated that the boat was purchased within the last year. Towed boat subject had repaired the pontoons with fiberglass patches and sold the boat to Owner. there were a lot of large waves caused by the amount of boat traffic and he believes one of the patches may have failed. Owner stated that they had put the boat on the water in the early summer and that they kept it docked at Patoka Marina. She went on to say that they have used the boat 5 or 6 times since it was on the water without any problems. 
   
  By the time interviews had concluded, Owner's boat had been pushed by waves to the bank were it settled with most of the boat submerged. I advised Owner that she would have to make arrangements with her insurance company to find a salvage crew that would be able to remove the boat from the water. I gave Owner my name and the phone number to ICO District 7 and further advised that once she had made arrangements to have the boat removed to contact me so that the cause of the accident could be determined. A few weeks later, I heard that the boat had been removed and was destroyed once it was out of the water.
   