It's 'as bad as I've ever seen a vessel'

Bud Wendel took his family out to the tiny spit of sand that rises out of the swells of Tampa Bay on Saturday afternoon for a day in the sun and swimming.

And he was enjoying the sights and sounds of Pine Key Island, a spot many know as Beer Can Island. There were scores of boaters anchored offshore. People were swimming and sprawled out on the tiny beach.

Then came the boom, "like a cannon going off," said Wendel, a staff sergeant with the Air Force stationed at MacDill Air Force Base.

A 33-foot Sea Ray cabin cruiser had blown up. Seven people, including a child, were seriously injured, officials later would say. Three of them suffered potentially life-threatening injuries.

"Next thing we know," Wendel said, "we see black smoke billowing up from across the island, about 100 yards west of us. It was a huge explosion, the boat just blew up."

Wendel's military training took over. He and his brother-in-law and father-in-law ran across the island to the opposite shore and saw the cabin cruiser, about 100 yards off the shoreline, engulfed in flames.

"That's when you heard the people screaming," he said. "There were still people on the boat after the explosion."

He said witnesses yelled to the survivors still on the burning vessel to jump and swim to shore.

Some swam to shore on their own, while others, more critically injured, had to be pulled in, he said. One man had a compound fracture of his leg.

"It was hanging by a thread," Wendel said. "I was trying to hold the guy's leg together."

One woman pulled ashore had a severely lacerated foot.

The owner of the boat was identified as George Meyers, according to Gary Morse of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Salvage attempt planned for today

The vessel set out Saturday morning from the Apollo Beach area and anchored off the island by midmorning. The explosion was in the aft of the boat, Morse said.

Eleven people were onboard when it blew up. Three were off the boat, wading in water about 30 feet away.

Six children were below deck watching a movie on a television set in the forward part of the vessel, he said. One of those children was seriously injured and remained hospitalized Saturday night.

Salvagers will try to raise the vessel this morning and bring it to the commission's headquarters on Gandy Boulevard, where it will be examined by investigators.

The salvage won't be easy, Morse said, as the vessel appears to have broken up.

"It's in as bad a shape as I've ever seen a vessel after explosion and fire," he said.

Three of the severely hurt suffered potentially life-threatening injuries, according to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue shift commander Craig Lynn. Five of the seven had "systemic traumatic injuries," he said.

The seriously injured patients were taken by helicopter to Tampa General Hospital. An additional five children had minor injuries and were taken by boat to Williams Park in Gibsonton for evaluation, officials said. Those patients were taken by ambulance to local hospitals.

In all, 13 patients were transported to local hospitals, Lynn said, including a woman on the island who suffered a medical condition after the explosion. She was taken to Brandon Regional Hospital, Lynn said.

A Coast Guard helicopter rescued six people in two separate trips, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Simpson.

"They all had various injuries," he said, "including broken bones and burns."

Medical helicopters from Tampa General assisted with the rescue.

By 9 p.m., six people - five adults and one child - remained hospitalized, officials said.

Boater appeared to be experienced

The people on the boat were extended family, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Maj. Dennis Post at a news conference, and were Hillsborough County residents.

He said that investigators are just beginning their probe into what caused the explosion and while a preliminary report may be completed in a few days, a detailed report with conclusions as to what exactly happened may not be completed for two months.

Post said a generator was in operation at the time, and he speculated that perhaps fumes from that built up in the bilge area. Without proper ventilation, that could result in an explosion.

"We will leave that up to the fire marshals to determine," he said.

The vessel was anchored properly about 100 feet from the shore of Beer Can Island, a popular destination for weekend boaters in Tampa Bay. The size of the boat and the way it was anchored suggested the boater was experienced, Post said.

The vessel was not over its capacity, he said.

"It's not unusual to have that many people on a boat that size," he said. "That was a good vessel. We're not sure if it was a mechanical failure or an operator failure. It's too early to tell."

'These people are lucky to be alive'

Eddy Brown of Valrico was among the hundreds enjoying a day on the water.

"We had just backed in, set the anchors and were just settling down and I looked toward the island," he said. "Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the explosion. I looked and the whole back end of the boat was blown off, kind of like a bomb. People were flying through the air. Parts of the boat were flying through the air. It was kind of like a movie."

Brown said that after the explosion, he saw children on the bow. A lot of boaters had responded to calls for help, he said, and were helping them off the boat.

At the Williams Park boat ramp, about a half-dozen injured people arrived by boat and were taken away by three ambulances. A half-dozen people arrived at Tampa General by helicopter around 1:30 p.m.

Wendel said there were plenty of witnesses on the island who had medical experience, either with the military or otherwise.

"We kept talking to the people," Wendel said, "telling them to stick with us."

"They were in shock," he said. The man with the broken leg kept asking, "'What happened? What happened?'" Wendel said. "These people are lucky to be alive.

"All we could do then was to wait on the medivacs to get there."

Wendel said he often goes boating in the Bay, but has never witnessed a scene like Saturday.

"Only in training," he said. "We practice this in military exercises and the training just kicked in."