Two Hurt as Boat Explodes at Fuel Dock

A man and his daughter were burned Wednesday when their 28-foot cabin cruiser exploded at a Huntington Harbour fuel dock, authorities said.

Carl Lund, 48, of Huntington Beach had just fueled the craft for a weekend trip to Catalina. He was attempting to start the boat’s second engine when the 1976 Skipjack exploded and caught fire about 11 a.m., Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Rivas said.

Lund and his 7-year-old daughter, Kristen, suffered burns to their legs and were transported to the burn center at UCI Medical Center in Orange, he said.

Hospital spokeswoman Marykay Fitzgerald said the Lunds were both in fair condition. The father suffered second- and third-degree burns over 30% of his body, and his daughter sustained first- and second-degree burns to 15% of her body, Fitzgerald said.

Cause Under Investigation

The cause of the explosion at the Mariner’s Point dock on Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach is still under investigation. However, Rivas said there is a “possibility” that a leak in a fuel line was to blame.

Lund had repaired the boat Tuesday at the nearby Sunset Aquatic boatyard, where he is a part owner, Sean McWhinney, a boatyard spokesman, said. The boat had just been brought back on a trailer from Cabo San Lucas, and Lund’s crew might have been working on a fuel pump, he said.

Rick Parks, a friend of Lund who was at the dock when the explosion occurred, said the blast damaged the front third of the boat. Parks, 48, of Sunset Beach said the father and daughter immediately got off the boat while the dockmaster pushed the vessel away from the dock and into the channel. The dock was then evacuated, he said.

“If it (the boat) is going to burn, you don’t want it next to a gas pump,” said Parks, who suffered minor cuts on his right arm from flying glass.

Parks said he works near the fuel dock and walked over when he saw Lund, who was leaving for a Fourth of July weekend trip to Avalon. Parks was sitting on the dock, holding the boat, while Lund tried, with difficulty, to start the engine.

Next Thing: ‘Boom!’

Lund raised the hatch to check on the engine “and the next thing I knew, boom!” Parks said.

Fuel vapors apparently collected inside and under the cabin, according to Huntington Beach fire protection specialist Mike Tamiyasu. The boat had sat for five minutes after fueling, and then Lund tried to start the first engine, he said. When that wouldn’t start, he tried the second engine.

“And that’s when the vapors ignited,” Tamiyasu said.

The Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol extinguished the blaze and towed the boat to Sunset Aquatic marina for storage, Rivas said, adding that there was no estimate on damage.