Two Squamish men were taken to hospital to be treated for burns after a boat they were trying to start exploded on Sunday (May 13) at Porteau Cove Provincial Park.
The incident occurred at about 2:30 p.m. The two male victims, aged 20 and 29, were transported to Vancouver General Hospital suffering from burn injuries, RCMP Sgt. Wayne Pride said in a statement.
Julie and Miles Jensen were driving back to Squamish from Vancouver shortly after the mishap occurred. The boat was fully involved in flames, with black smoke billowing skyward, when they turned off the highway to see what had happened.
Julie Jensen said the boat was parked near the park's boat launch when the engine apparently blew up.
When the Jensens drove into the park, ambulance and fire crews had just arrived and were attending to the injured and getting equipment into position to douse the blaze.
"Porteau Cove was full of people," Julie Jensen said. "The parks people were trying to organize traffic control - trying to shut down the entrance and move vehicles out of the way for the fire trucks."
Miles Jensen, 14, said it took about 10 minutes from the time the two arrived until the fire was out. Julie Jensen said a helicopter arrived and landed on the rocky beach south of the dock while firefighters were still working to douse the fire.
"We were shocked at how fast the helicopter was there," Julie Jensen said.
After being attended to by paramedics, one of the injured was evacuated to the helicopter on a stretcher, she said, adding that a second injured man was taken away by ground ambulance.
The boat was to be examined as part of the investigation to determine the cause of the explosion, RCMP Staff Sgt. Guy Pollock wrote in an email to The Chief.
