Explosion Injures One
By Shelley Byrne, The Paducah Sun, Ky.
Aug. 12–KUTTAWA, Ky. — An explosion aboard a houseboat being fueled at Buzzard Rock Marina on Lake Barkley critically injured a marina employee Saturday evening.
The Play Girl II, a 73-foot houseboat owned by William Davis of Hopkinsville, had nearly completed taking on fuel when it exploded at the fuel island around 6 p.m., said Daniel Richardson, a conservation officer with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
The explosion severely burned Travis Leech, 23, the attendant fueling the boat.
“He was on the back of the boat, putting gas into it when it happened,” Richardson said. “It blew up, and he ran over and got on the dock.”
Leech was taken by helicopter from the scene to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. He had second-degree burns to 82 percent of his body, Richardson said. He was in critical condition late Saturday, according to the hospital.
Four people were on the houseboat, but they were not hurt, Richardson said. All were near the front of the boat, and the explosion happened in the rear.
It caused severe damage to the rear and the top deck as well as burning a canvass awning, melting some lawn furniture and breaking a sliding glass door. The fuel island also received minor damage and remained closed.
People on board the boat put the fire out after being thrown several different fire extinguishers, Richardson said. Deputy Fire Marshal Sheena Richardson was investigating the fire’s cause but had not made any determinations.
Daniel Richardson said the boat’s engines were running, but so were blowers designed to vent gasoline vapors from the engine compartment.
Officers pulled the boat away from the marina and docked it at the nearby Poplar Creek boat ramp.
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