Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens said a mechanical issue caused a motor boat to catch fire on July 21.
Investigators told KLBK and EverythingLubbock.com that a build up of fuel in the engine compartment, especially the fuel line, caused the engine to catch fire. The fire quickly spread from the engine to the fiber-glass material of the boat.
“Any time you’re dealing with inboard motors, fuel can be an issue if it leaks into that compartment whether it’s the spent fuel or the fumes of the gasoline it can be ignited from anything,” Game Warden Aaron Sims said. “From a small to the alternator which would cause the combustion leading to explosion and in this case fire.”
Sims added that the high heat Lubbock has experienced was also a contributing factor to this fire.
“Heat had an increased effect when you talk about inboard motor engine fires and what it does is outside temperatures may be one hundred degrees but inside temperatures may be one hundred and twenty, one hundred and thirty,” Sims said. “Any time you’re getting near those temperatures you talk about gasoline vaporizing. If you don’t have a secure fastener on the fuel line, if some of that fuel starts leaking out the vapor starts rising one small spark could set it off.”
Sims said this particular fire was not at fault of the boat operator. However, he does recommend always doing a routine maintenance check before getting on the water so prevent this from happening.
“You want to go out there and make sure and check the fasteners didn’t come loose from the road, the travel over, just double check it before you go back on the water,” Sims said.
Family Power Sports Lubbock’s Service Manager Jeff Schweiger said the first thing to do when getting out on the water is to run the boat’s blower. He recommend’s running it a minute before starting the engine to push out any left over fuels or fumes.
Like Sims, Schweiger said the second thing to do a routine boat check.
“There are exhaust hoes that could fail if they get overheated as well as any of the fuel lines,” Schweiger said. “A lot of them are made out of plastic these days and so with excessive heat, it could be damaged and not function properly.”
Schweiger added that the fuel system is one of the top components to check when going through the boat.
Sims and Schweiger both recommended taking your boat to a professional to get inspected. Schweiger said a professional might catch something an average boat owner missed or could detect a problem before it becomes worse.
