Investigators said that a fuel leak is likely to blame for a boat explosion that landed one woman in the hospital.
On Monday, it was a quiet day at Riverwalk Marina in Decatur, but it was far from that on Sunday.
Decatur fire investigators said that around 11:15 a.m. Sunday morning, they received a call reporting a boat that was re-fueling had exploded.
"They had finished re-fueling and during the process of trying to get the boat started, they had one engine running," said Lt. Danny Engle, Decatur Fire Dept. "When they were trying to get the other engine to start, that's when the fire and explosion occurred."
Susan Conner, owner of the marina, saw the entire thing.
"We heard just a load boom," said Conner. "It shook the building, and I actually saw the boat explode. I mean, it was a big poof."
Conner said that she called 911 as they worked to cut the fuel supply off and push the boat away from the dock.
"It could have been a disaster because the boat was tied up to the gas dock, flaming big huge flames," said Conner. "We were right to get it off the gas dock, but then it started floating in to the marina."
One woman was burned, but has been treated and released from the hospital.
Investigators said that everyone was fortunate that it was not more serious.
"We were blessed, like I said, that we didn't have any more serious injuries than we had or even fatalities," said Engle. "The potential was there to be bad."
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