Two Boats Lost, One Man Seriously Injured, Heroic Jet-skiers Prevent Spread
Quick thinking prevented a tragedy from turning into a catastrophe last Saturday, August 10th, in the Put-in-Bay Harbor after a boat exploded after fueling at The Boardwalk. The boat’s owner, Jon Danklefsen, was seriously injured. A GoFundMe campaign is currently active to help with his medical bills and you can find that here.
The boats line was cut from The Boardwalk to prevent an explosion on the dock, and the boat drifted into the Put-in-Bay Harbor, where it made contact with another, fortunately unoccupied, vessel, docked at a mooring ball, which burst into flame as well.
Jet-skiiers and Miller Ferry Contain The Blaze
Unbelievable heroics were displayed by a couple of jet-ski riders in the Harbor, springing to action immediately, using their craft to spray the boats with water and steer the still loose original boat away from any further craft in the mooring ball field. The fact that only two boats were lost is an incredible credit to these quick thinking riders.
The next line of defense was the Miller Ferry, getting out into the Harbor and getting a more steady stream of water onto the flaming boats. Reinforcements would arrive soon enough from the Coast Guard, EMS and PIB Fire Department to finish the job, keeping this already disastrous accident from going to another level. We salute the response of everyone involved, it’s genuinely amazing that only two boats were lost.
The First Boat’s Owner Suffers Critical Injuries
The most important cost, of course, of the terrible events of last Saturday, is the one being suffered by the first boat’s owner Jon Danklefsen. While considering the severity of the initial explosion, he is lucky to be alive, he suffered critical injuries and was life flighted from the island. According to his daughter, Jon has second degree burns over half of his body. If you’ve got a little to spare, please consider checking out the GoFundMe to aid in his medical care and recovery, and even if you don’t, keep him in your thoughts, as we all are in the Put-in-Bay community.
A Huge Scare, But At The End Of The Day, A Bullet Mostly Dodged
One of the realities of island life at the Bay, is that fire is a big risk, even more so than on the mainland. We do not have a professional Fire Station on the island, just a volunteer force. And its not as if additional assistance can get here very quick. Put-in-Bay already has two incredibly infamous fire tragedies in its history, and last Saturday had the potential to be a third, were it not for the brave and intelligent actions of a few people who got called on with no time to prepare, and they had to get it right, and they did. We’re proud of and grateful to everyone who was involved in getting this fire put out and preventing its spread!