At approximately 18:44 on Saturday June 3rd in Knox County TN on Ft. Loudon Reservoir, a 1990 Malibu Sunsetter Wakeboard boat docked up to the fuel docks at Concord Marina and requested fuel from the staff.  The boat was fueled at the marina and after fueling, when attempting to depart the dock, the vessel, with four occupants on board, exploded.  Each of the four occupants of the vessel were injured with three receiving major burns.  Three of the four occupants were transported via EMS to UT medical center and then later to Vanderbilt burn center.  The incident is under further investigation.   

*** At approximately 18:30 on Saturday, June 03, 2023, Officer made contact with a vessel in the harbor of Concord Marina.  The vessel was not displaying valid TN registration.  Officer1 spoke to the operator who explained that he had recently performed work on the vessel and had not put the registration numbers on the boat as of yet. (Body cam footage of this interaction included in the case file). Officer1 issued a verbal warning for the registration and allowed the vessel to continue on its way.  

Officer1 then proceeded to the gas docks at Concord Marina.  While at the gas docks on the upstream side of the marina store Officer1 heard an explosion and then saw a boat on fire on the downstream side of the marina store/dock, with injured victims running from the scene.  Officer1 notified TWRA dispatch via radio of the situation.  

Myself, Officer and Sgt. responded to the scene.  Upon arrival we found a vessel completely consumed by flames with Knoxville fire attempting to extinguish the fire.  The vessel, a 1990 Malibu Sunsetter, ultimately burned to the water line and sank in approximately 25'' of water directly in front of the marina.  On the shoreline Officer interviewed two employees of Concord Marina who were working the gas dock at the time of the incident.  

Witness1 stated that the vessel that exploded had came into the dock where she tied them up and asked if they needed fuel.  The individuals on board stated they did need fuel and would like to get $50 worth of gasoline.  Witness1 stated that the individuals told her that the fuel tank was broken and in order to fuel the boat she would need to use a hose and a funnel.  

Witness1 stated that the boat owner/operator, cut a piece of hose and affixed it to a funnel, putting the hose down where the filler neck would normally be with the funnel in the hose, and she pumped fuel into the funnel.  Witness1 stated that pumping the fuel was taking an extremely long time due to the fact that she had to put small amounts in at a time in order not to overflow the funnel as she could not lock the handle as she normally would.  

Witness1 stated that approximately 30 minutes into pumping the fuel a woman in the front of the boat told her to stop pumping fuel because it was spilling out.  Witness1 stated that at this point Owner opened the cowling over the engine and she noticed fuel in the bilge of the boat.  Witness1 stated that at this point the engine was running and the boat was bilging fuel out the side and into the water.  

Witness1 stated that when she noticed fuel in the water she went inside to get Dawn detergent to spray on the fuel and then heard a loud pop and saw flames, at which point she and Witness2 ran for safety.  After interviewing witnesses on scene Sergeant and Officer proceeded to UT medical center where the victims had initially been transported.  Statements were taken from each as their treatment allowed.  Owner stated that the vessel had had engine work done by him and his father over the winter and that there was an issue with the filler neck for the fuel on the vessel.  Owner further stated that he had used a hose and a funnel to fue

FORT LOUDOUN RESERVOIR
KNOXVILLE                     