2 injured in boat fire at Lake of the Ozarks

SUNRISE BEACH, Mo. (KY3) - A man and woman suffered injuries in a boat fire at Lake of the Ozarks.

The Missouri Water Patrol identified those injured as Amanda Kingston, 35, and Benny Thomas, 78.

Deputy Chief Rob Odenwald with the Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District says it happened at Pointe Oasis. Investigators say the boat had a mechanical failure within the engine that caused an explosion. Deputy Chief Odenwald says the boat eventually sank.

When it happened, Colton Michel was one of the managers working at Pointe Oasis.

“He flooded his engines trying to start the first time. He kept trying to start it. He put the blowers on. We sat there for about ten minutes. He got the one engine to start. He decided that he was just going to take it home on his one engine. And so we untie them. We pushed him off. He tried to start the other engine. And when he hit the key for the other engine is when it blew up,” said Michel.

All of a sudden, he saw and heard the explosion.

“It was quite a boom. I mean, your ears were ringing afterward. So I just grabbed the fire extinguisher, and I just pulled the pin out, and I just started spraying the engine hatch,” said Michel.

He said he was happy nobody that was on the dock got hurt.

“I was really thankful that our workers had gotten away from it. You know, it didn’t really hit me until like then that they were in the blast zone that they could have got hurt,” said Michel.

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com

Copyright 2023 KY3. All rights reserved.