What Wyandotte police originally thought might have been two people overdosing on the docks turned out to be eight people getting seriously ill after carbon monoxide exposure.
The victims were discovered shortly after 9 p.m. Sept. 24 at Motor City Marina, 525 Biddle Ave., after police were sent there on a report of two possible overdose victims.
One of three officers sent on the call said he observed a large group of people lying on the walkway, with several of them vomiting in the Detroit River. Because of the number of victims, police called for additional rescue units to come to the scene.
Two officers entered the boat and searched for additional victims. One of the victims told police that an unresponsive person was on the boat’s lower level. Officers tried to rouse the victim, but being unable to do so, carried the unconscious person off the boat and to the walkway. They then carried the victim to a waiting medic for evaluation.Police assisted the remaining victims over to the medics for evaluation. Many of the victims complained of headaches, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting.
Once all the victims were cleared from the dock and walkway, police went back into the boat to search for any possible remaining victims. No one else was found.
Wyandotte firefighters determined that the carbon monoxide level in the boat was 87 parts per million. Firefighters said normal carbon monoxide levels should be 0 parts per million, and levels above 35 parts per million could begin to cause health issues.
One of the victims said they had been aboard the boat for about two hours, from 7 to 9 p.m., at which point several people began complaining of headaches and nausea.It was around 9 p.m. when one of the victims passed out and 911 was notified.
Police report that the boat’s canvas sides were down when officers arrived, but the interior windows were open. However, officers said the airflow inside the boat was minimal.
The victims ranged in age from 22 to 32 years old.

Four people are hospitalized after a boat exploded Thursday on Detroit’s east side.
The incident happened shortly before 7 p.m. at a Marathon fuel pump at the Riverside Marina while the boaters were refueling.
At some point, the boat caught fire before it exploded. Two men and two woman were onboard and were rushed to the hospital.
The four people have burns to their legs and feet.

A woman has died and a Syracuse police officer is in critical condition in what state police said was a possible case of carbon monoxide poisoning aboard a boat in Sylvan Beach.
Blair M. Dodge, 34, of Central Square, and William R. LaShomb, 36, of Bridgeport, were staying overnight Sunday on a boat docked along the Erie Canal when they were stricken with carbon monoxide poisoning, said Trooper Jack Keller, a spokesman for the state police.
When Dodge didn’t show up for work Monday morning, her friends went looking for the couple.
Sylvan Beach firefighters found the couple on the boat, Keller said. State police were called to the scene around 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Dodge was pronounced dead on the boat.
LaShomb was found unconscious, but alive. He was rushed to an Oneida hospital before being airlifted to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he remains in critical condition.
LaShomb joined the Syracuse Police Department in 2008.
State police are investigating whether the boat’s engine or a portable space heater were the source of the carbon monoxide leak.
Police found no signs of trauma or any suspicious circumstances. The investigation remains ongoing.
A GoFundMe campaign to help Dodge's family has already raised more than $32,000.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas which can cause sudden illness and death, according the the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The gas is produced any time a fossil fuel is burned.
The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion.
Carbon monoxide poisoning ranks fifth in known causes of death among boaters, according to the U.S. Coast Guard’s report on 2017 Recreational Boating Statistics. More than 800 people have been poisoned by boating-related carbon monoxide over a 15-year period, with over 140 of these poisonings resulting in fatalities, according to an earlier CDC report.

Eleven people were evacuated Sunday evening from a boat that caught fire in the Potomac River, the D.C. fire and EMS department said.
None of the 11 occupants of the boat appeared to be seriously injured, said Vito Maggiolo, a spokesman for the fire department. They were taken ashore for evaluation, he said.
Smoke billowed from the boat after the fire broke out about 6:30 p.m. near Gravelly Point and Reagan National Airport. Although firefighters quelled the blaze, the medium-size pleasure-craft was heavily damaged, and partially sank at its stern, according to the fire department. The precise cause was not immediately known, but Maggiolo said the fire was reported as electrical in origin.
One firefighter suffered an injury that was not considered life-threatening.
The craft appeared to be a powerboat with an open passenger compartment.

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A grieving mom thought her nine-year-old son drowned on Lake Eufaula, only to learn he actually passed out from carbon monoxide.
Cassi Free said when she was told her son died from drowning, she knew there had to be more to the story. After getting the autopsy results, she learned he had a deadly amount of carbon monoxide in his system that was emitted from the back of their boat.
Free said her nine-year-old son Andy was the kind of kid everyone loved.
"He wants to play, he wants to know people and make friends," Free said.
He was kind, sweet, and adventurous, ready to try anything new.
"He was who he was he was proud of it."
One of Andy's favorite things to do was swim and play on the lake. Free took her family to Lake Eufaula in June to do just that.
"We let the kids go tubing, we went wakeboarding and wake surfing," she said.
Free said the day went great, but when they were about to dock and go home, she said Andy was laying on the edge of their wakeboard boat. The boat rocked and Andy went into the water.
"He had fallen, and it was one of those situations like I guess he doesn't want to help clean up," she said.
She soon realized the worst.
"Andy was gone. He literally sat there suffering for what amounts to brain death before he fell into the lake," she said.
The medical examiner's office said Andy's Carbon monoxide level was 72%, meaning 72% of his blood could no longer carry oxygen.
Free’s two older sons had to be treated for carbon monoxide too. She said the exhaust from the engine and idling at low speeds likely created the poisonous gas. She had no idea this was even possible.
"It took losing Andy to realize there's a bigger problem that people just don't know about," Free said.
Free said she misses her son every second.
"Andy had a purpose. I believe God had a purpose for him," she said.
Cassi said her family is purchasing a ranch in Andy's honor and they plan to use that ranch to help other dealing with tragedies, after she gets her masters in grief counseling. 
She said they will have animals like llamas on the ranch, Andy's favorite, and trees in honor of loved ones that passed away. 
For more information about carbon monoxide poisoning, visit the CDC website here.

One person was hospitalized Monday after a boat caught fire near the Davis Island boat ramp.
Tampa Fire Rescue responded to the fire in the Seaplane Basin south of Peter O. Knight airport around 4:30 p.m. Monday.
“We started getting multiple calls because there was huge columns of black smoke here close to the airport so people thought the worse in that regard,” Tampa Fire Rescue spokesperson Jason Penny said.
When crews arrived, TFR said officials found a roughly 30-foot boat fully engulfed in flames. Officials say the boat appeared to have been moored in the basin but broke away from its mooring as a result of the fire.
TFR said two people were able to escape from the boat and made it to shore at the Davis Island boat ramp. One of them was taken to Tampa General Hospital as a trauma alert after receiving injuries related to the fire.
“Your life can change in the toss of a dime,” the boat’s owner Mark Etting told News Channel 8’s Justin Schecker in an exclusive interview.
Etting said he was working on his skiff when his friend Scott Gross went inside the boat to take care of a cut on his hand.
“He came back outside and said ‘I don’t know Mark, I don’t know what happened, the fire, his legs were on fire,” Etting said. “I said get in the water, jump in the water and he jumped in the water.”
Etting said he tried his best with a fire extinguisher.
“It just wouldn’t go out,” he said. “It would not go out.”
Fortunately, the burning boat drifted away from the others in the water as firefighters attacked the flames.
“They were right here on the spot, excellent, police were friendly, lot of compassion was shown,” Etting said.
As Etting copes with the loss of his houseboat, he said he’s grateful to be unharmed.
“I try to give thanks to god every day no matter what trials and tribulations I face,” he said.
Crews were able to get the fire under control by 6 p.m. An investigation is underway by the fire marshal’s office to determine the cause and origin of the fire.
No other injuries were reported at the scene.

A boat that caught fire Saturday afternoon at DiMillo’s Marina was towed by the Portland Fire Department into the harbor, where the flames were extinguished, but the boat is likely unsalvageable, fire officials reported.
No one was injured in the fire, which started around 5 p.m. at the fuel pump at DiMillo’s dock, said Deputy Fire Chief Kevin McGuire.
The fire is still under investigation. But McGuire said the boat was done refueling when it caught fire. He said at least one person was on the boat when the fire started and several people were in the area.
The department’s fireboat first pulled the flaming boat 100 feet off DiMillo’s dock, then extinguished the fire, McGuire said. The boat was then towed by the fireboat to Spring Point Marina, where it was put on a trailer, McGuire reported.
“The fireboat pulled it far enough away to remove the risk to any other boats and the dock. It was pretty much over in 30 minutes,” McGuire said.

Firefighters made short work of a boat that caught ablaze Friday night at the Homer Harbor, and no one was injured in the process.
A 32-foot Osprey brand fiberglass boat caught fire shortly before 9 p.m. while docked in the harbor, on the same side as the Harbormaster Office. No one was on board at the time and no one was injured, said Homer Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mark Kirko. Lt. Ryan Browning of the Homer Police Department said officers got the call to respond at 9:04 p.m.
John Pratt, who was on the scene and called 911 and the Harbormaster, said he saw smoke and got to the scene around 8:45 p.m., and then saw flames just a few minutes later. The worst of the fire was over shortly after 9 p.m., Pratt said.
Kirko said the fire appears to have started in the engine compartment of the boat. The Osprey was in a line of boats tied up at the harbor, but firefighters were able to access it without too much trouble.
“Thankfully there was not one directly to its port side,” Kirko said. “That helped us out quite a bit.”
The fire worked its way from the engine compartment to the cabin, Kirko said.
“Not a lot of fire damage in the cabin,” he said. “But a lot of smoke damage in there.”
The owners of the boat are not currently in Homer. Kirko said the Harbormaster’s office has contacted one of the owners to come collect the boat. On Friday night, the harbor staff were preparing to get the boat stowed while waiting for the owners, Kirko said.
Also Friday evening, a dispatcher with the Homer Police Department confirmed that there was a minor incident at the Homer Airport. The Homer Police responded along with Homer Airport staff, but no assistance from the fire department was needed.

Police are investigating a fire that caused a boat to burst into flames Sunday afternoon.
The 53-foot recreational boat caught fire about 4:30 p.m. while the occupants were working on the vessel, according to Chief William Laliberty. The boat was moored on the Merrimack River near Jamaica Lane. There were no reports of injuries.
Laliberty said the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was notified because there was a gas leak from the boat, which carries up to 300 gallons of fuel.
Laliberty estimated that roughly 50 to 100 gallons leaked into the water but did not know for certain.
The state environmental police as well as the Haverhill Police and Fire departments are overseeing the fire investigation.

A boat fire at Mill Creek Marina early Saturday morning left two people injured and several boats destroyed.
The Locust Volunteer Fire Department says a large boat caught fire and spread to a nearby boathouse around 12:30 a.m.
Locust Fire Dept. Incident Commander David Carson says a husband, wife and daughter were on the boat.
At the time of the fire, he says the couple was on the boat deck, and their daughter was asleep underneath the deck.
He says the woman has minor burns on her arm and fell in the process of being rescued, and broke her arm.
Her daughter has minor burns on her hands.
Firefighters say the flames destroyed nine slips, six boats, a dockominium and two golf carts, kayaks and a Sea-Doo melted from the heat.
Carson says crews were able to contain the fire to the last four slips on each side of the boathouse, that had around 50 boats total.
Several crews responded to help, and the scene was cleared shortly before 5 a.m.
Carson says the boat owner believes it could be an electrical fire that started in the engine area, but the cause is undetermined.
The fire marshal hasn’t been able to investigate yet, since the boat is across the shore under water.