SHERIDAN LAKE, SD (KELO) — We’re hearing from first responders who rushed to a boat explosion on Sheridan Lake.
It happened at about noon on Sunday, with multiple agencies responding to the call.
It proved to be an interesting afternoon for the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office and the Hill City Volunteer Fire Department, with people from both agencies saying the incident was one of the most unique things they’ve seen.
As a black plume of smoke rose into the air on Sheridan Lake, it looked like something out of a movie.
“This is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed on the water. It’s probably the wildest thing that I’ve seen on boat patrol in the last 8 or 9 years,” Pennington County Sheriff’s Office senior deputy Cody Rhoden said.
“I’ve seen boats catch on fire before, but not anything quite like this,” Chief Jeremy Dalman of the Hill City Volunteer Fire Department said.
Dalman says when crews arrived, the boat was drifting away from the dock.
“Pennington County Sheriff’s Office was out there with their patrol boat. They came over and picked up one of our officers and two of our firefighters, took them out to the boat,” Dalman said.
Then, the boat was towed back toward the dock where firefighters were waiting with hoses.
“All the right pieces were there at the right time, and it just worked out,” Dalman said.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, but at this point, authorities say it may have been caused by a mechanical issue. However, Scott Crawford of I-29 RV, Marine and Outdoor says there are some steps you can take to reduce the chance of this happening to you.
“On an inboard, most the time what you should do is, it’s got a bilge fan that you can flip the switch on, and you want to run that for a couple of minutes before you even turn the key on. That will siphon all those gas fumes out of there and allow you to start the engine up,” Crawford said.
No matter how bad the pictures look, fortunately, no one was hurt.
Other responding agencies included South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, the Rapid City Fire Department Hazmat Team and Pennington County Dispatch. If you find yourself in a similar situation, put out what you can with a fire extinguisher, but you may have to bail out of the boat, which is why it’s important to have life jackets on board.
