Screams are still ringing in the ears of one man and his grandmother, who survived a massive boat explosion in South Haven Monday.
"Hearing my grandma literally screaming for her life trying to stay alive," Alberto Torres said.
Torres said escaping the explosion was the first challenge and maybe the easiest.
He also said the toughest issue was helping his panicked grandmother who couldn't swim.
It was supposed to be just another nice day on Lake Michigan for Torres and his grandmother. He said he just bought this boat a week before floating onto the open water.
“When I got out there, I realized the waves were really choppy,” Torres said. “So, w’re out there for five minutes until we decided to turn back around. We were about a mile out from the pier.”
Torres said there were no problems on the lake until the trip took a sudden turn for the worst.
“On the way back, that's when we felt an explosion behind us and it like through our bodies forward,” Torres said. “Then when I turned around, I saw flames and instantly - within seconds - the whole boat was on fire.”
Lake visitors recorded videos and took pictures as Torres and his grandmother barely escaped the flames. He said the fire burned their life jackets while still on the boat.
“She can't swim, so she's kicking and grabbing me and pushing me under water, and she's in panic mode, and I'm trying to swim for both of us basically,” Torres said. “I had to do that for 10 minutes and I know it may seem like a long time, but 10 minutes was an eternity.
A couple on another boat came to their rescue as the black smoke grew. His grandmother giving everything to survive the explosion
“She had literally no energy,” Torres said. “Every ounce of energy should have given she did, I know she did.”
They both have been recovering well, surprisingly with no injuries. He said it's a miraculous survival story he hopes his rescuers are listening to.
“I don't think we would have made it If that couple wasn't there,” Torres said.
Torres and his grandmother were in that cold water for more than 10 minutes. He said he's feeling a bit of anxiety and guilt, but every day is getting a little easier.
He is encouraging others to have their boats checked before getting on the water.

Firefighters responded to a boat fire in Daytona Beach, authorities said Saturday night.
Daytona Beach Fire Department spokeswoman Sasha Staton said the boat was docked at the marina of Caribbean Jack’s restaurant when the fire started. Staton said the department is now working to determine what caused the fire.
Officials were able to put out the fire and keep it from spreading to the dock and surrounding vessels. It sustained significant damage and was a total loss, Staton said.
No one was inside the boat at the time of the incident and no injuries were reported.

Five people jumped from a boat that caught fire near the Gandy Bridge Wednesday afternoon, 10News WTSP reported.
The fire happened on the south side of the bridge on a boat that was anchored but drifting west, the station reported.
Tampa Fire Rescue crews used water to douse the flames and pushed the boat toward mangroves to keep it from approaching the bridge. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured, according to the report.

Two people were taken to a South Haven hospital Monday after their boat caught fire in Lake Michigan.
South Haven Area Emergency Services responded to the fire off the Lake Michigan pierhead at 3:45 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16.
Another boater rescued the occupants of the boat, and the South Haven Area Emergency Services fireboat extinguished the fire.
The boaters were taken to Bronson South Haven Hospital for treatment.

A fire broke out on a fishing vessel stuck in shallow water just off Waikiki, Hawaii Saturday.

The fire began on the 79-foot boat at 10 a.m. while seven members of a marine salvage company were on board. They managed to get out safely by jumping overboard.

"I thought they kicked over the engine at first, but when more and more black smoke started to develop out of it, I knew something wasn't right," said witness Chris Beeson. 

The commercial fishing vessel is home-ported in Honolulu and was returning from American Samoa. ​

SACKETS HARBOR — Fire crews fought a blaze on a boat off the shore of Sackets Harbor for more than an hour Sunday evening, before the fire burned through the hull and the vessel sank.
According to Sackets Harbor Fire Chief Derek Derouin, there were no injuries as all four occupants of the boat made it safely to shore earlier in the evening.
The 52-foot Sea Ray Sedan Bridge boat was owned by Robert G. Schuerch, of Vestal, and was docked all season at Navy Point Marine in Sackets Harbor.
Mr. Schuerch and three other adults were out for a sunset cruise when the fire started.
“We have no idea how it started and we will probably never know now,” Chief Derouin said after the vessel sank.
The boat was engulfed by the time firefighters arrived.
According to Jefferson County Emergency Dispatch, before the call went out to first responders at 6:06 p.m., an individual on County Route 59 called to report the vessel on fire, loose and floating towards Sackets Harbor.
The Sackets Harbor and Town of Brownville fire departments were on scene, assisted by the Henderson Fire Department and boat, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and Guilfoyle Ambulance standing by.

A fire heavily damaged a yacht Friday just south of Grasshopper Island as a steady stream of boaters tried to move their vessels inland before Tropical Storm Nate reaches hurricane strength.

No one was injured and the cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

Grasshopper Island, on Biloxi’s Back Bay, is near the mouth of the Tchoutacabouffa and Biloxi rivers.

Someone called 911 about 3:20 p.m. and reported a 45-foot pleasure boat was on fire, Biloxi Fire Battalion Chief Andy Mason said. Firefighters launched Marine 1, one of their larger fire boats, and made their way to the scene.

“We don’t know how many were on the boat,” Mason said.

“We just know the people on board are safe and no one was injured.”

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is investigating the cause of the fire.

“We assume the boat was moving north to get out of the way of the storm,” Mason said.

Those on board likely got off and made their way to the island.

Earlier Friday, Biloxi Fire Chief Joe Boney said waterway traffic was heavy as boats were being moved from harbors and other docks.

Biloxi is among several Mississippi Coast cities who have ordered their harbors evacuated Friday as Tropical Storm Nate heads toward the Gulf Coast. The storm is expected to reach hurricane strength and make landfall early Sunday morning along the central Gulf Coast.

The yacht fire shows why the fire department has not evacuated its fire boats yet, Boney said.

“We need to be able to help as long as we can when something like this happens,” he said.