The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that a man was seriously burned after an explosion and fire aboard a boat as it was leaving dock at Indian Mound Park in Englewood Saturday.
The 44-year-old man operating the boat, who wasn't identified, sustained significant burns and was taken for treatment to Tampa General Hospital, FWC regional public information director Melody Kilborn said in a statement Sunday. The severity of his injuries weren't known, she said, but six other passengers were unharmed.
The explosion occurred about 12:15 p.m. Saturday off the park in south Sarasota County. The 24-foot vessel with seven people aboard was preparing to leave dock when, shortly after the engine was started, an explosion occurred, the FWC reported.
Englewood Fire Rescue, the Sarasota and Charlotte County Sheriff’s Offices, the Florida State Fire Marshall and FWC responded to the scene.

Coast Guard officials rescued two people after their vessel caught fire Saturday night about 28 miles off the coast of Fort Myers Beach.
According to the Coast Guard's account of the incident, a call for help came just after 8 p.m. Saturday from the captain of the Jenna Dawn, a fishing vessel.
The captain activated his emergency position indicating radio beacon to mark the vessel’s location. A Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew was sent to the area and successfully took the captain and one other man from the burning craft.
The men were treated by emergency personnel at Fort Myers Beach High School. No major injuries were reported.
It is not clear what sparked the fire.

When a vessel caught fire in Florida’s Pensacola Bay, a good Samaritan jumped into action to help evacuate the four people on board, according the Pensacola Journal.
On Sunday afternoon, the vessel caught fire and the good Samaritan who saw what was taking place contacted the Coast Gard, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Gabriel Wisdom.
The Coast Guard did arrive but by that point, the person had helped all four people off the boat onto their own vessel.
The vessel that caught fire was unrecoverable. No one was injured.

​Juneau, AK - A boat in Sitka was a total loss Monday after a fire erupted on the vessel.
According to Sitka Fire Chief Craig Warren, the owner of the 34-foot fiberglass vessel "Megabucks," saw that there was black smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe for his diesel heater, and when he got there, saw black smoke inside the cabin. When the owner opened up the cabin door, it burst into flames.
The owner had then got off the boat said he called 911. Sitka Fire was dispatched to the Megabucks at Eliason harbor at about 8:47 that morning.
When crews arrived at the Megabucks, Warren said it was engulfed from the transom all the way forward to the bow. 20 people were on scene and for an hour and a half, crews were fighting the fire with portable water pumps.
The boat is a total loss, Warren says the investigation is ongoing but they are currently assuming heaters as a cause of the fire.
"But until we get in there and take a look, we don't know. Right now it's more important that we get it out of the water so that it doesn't sink and start releasing all of its fuel and oil."
Warren was asked how the cabin could burst into flames.
"This is pretty common in especially residences where the fuel load is high enough that the fire starts free burning, and then uses up all the oxygen in the compartment. When the oxygen in the compartment is used up, it goes into a decay status where you don't see open burning, but it's superheated, and then as soon as the door opens fresh air and oxygen is entrained into the compartment that allows the free burning to start immediately."

One person was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries Tuesday afternoon after a likely vapor explosion led to a boat fire at the Morehead City 10th Street boat ramp.
Assistant Morehead City Fire Chief Dykeman Baily said the explosion was likely caused by a fuel leak that ignited after a person attempted to turn the boat on while placing it into the water. The person turning the ignition, who Mr. Baily said is not the boat’s owner, was the only occupant at the time of the explosion.
The injured person was transported to Carteret Health Care, but the extent of their injuries and their current status was unknown. Mr. Baily said the fire was an accident and no charges have been filed.
The Morehead City Fire Department responded with assistance from the Beaufort Police Department. Upon arriving, crews got the fire under control “within minutes,” Mr. Baily said, and they cleared the scene within about an hour.  
Mr. Baily said the force of the explosion caused the boat to become partially disassembled. Though the damage appeared severe, he said he boat likely can be repaired. 

Firefighters responded to a boat fire on Fort Myers Beach near the Pink Shell Marina Thursday night.
Fire crews said they initially saw heavy smoke coming from the engine compartment.
The U.S. Coast Guard towed the boat to Bowditch Beach where firefighters boarded the vessel and extinguished the flames.
No injuries were reported.
Sanibel Fire Rescue District said fires that occur on boats can spread quickly and have unique challenges due to hazardous conditions and limited access.

Seven crew members of a commercial fishing boat were rescued after their boat caught fire Wednesday off the coast of Monterey, the Coast Guard said.
Watchstanders with the Eleventh Coast Guard District command center in Alameda received multiple alerts belonging to the fishing boat Blue Dragon around 12:20 a.m and arranged for a Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento C-27 Spartan aircrew to fly over the area about 350 miles (563 kilometers) west of Monterey
Coast Guard watchstanders also issued a request for assistance and the vessel Nord Rubicon crew responded that they were willing to divert and assist the distressed mariners.
The C-27 aircrew reached the area about three hours after the Coast Guard received the distress alerts and reported seeing the Blue Dragon on fire and survivors aboard a life raft nearby. The survivors signaled the aircraft using a flashlight, and in response, the aircrew deployed a flare along with a self-locating datum marker buoy.
The Nord Rubicon crew arrived on the scene at 9:30 a.m. and rescued the seven crewmembers from the life raft. No injuries were reported.
The Nord Rubicon was en route to San Francisco with all Blue Dragon crew members, officials said.

A boat caught fire Tuesday morning on the Indiana side of the Ohio River.
The first calls of a possible boat fire came in around 8:30 a.m. near Rising Sun in Ohio County. The fire happened near the 499 mile marker on the Ohio River.
The fire was still burning at 1:30 p.m., when officials said they've stopped putting water on the fire out of fear the additional water could cause the boat to sink. The tug boat also carries 35,000 gallons of fuel and officials said they fear the river could be contaminated if too much water is poured on it.
Recent Stories from wcpo.com
"It runs the risk of sinking, so there is a fire crew coming in from Galveston, Tx. that specializes in this and they're going to take it from here," said Lt. Meghan Keith, with the Dearborn County water rescue team.
The Coast Guard led the fight with the fire, alongside with several local fire departments.
Officials have not said whether anyone was injured in the fire, but employees on the boat did evacuate.

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a boat fire that happened about two miles off the coast of Block Island Monday morning.
Crews from the Point Judith station and the Narragansett Fire Department responded after the call came in around 11:45 a.m., according to the Coast Guard.
They arrived to find flames coming from the Mattie and Maren and four people on board the vessel.
The Coast Guard said all four boaters were safely removed and brought to shore.
No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is unclear at this time.

An explosion aboard a boat off the coast of Eureka on Tuesday night has sparked a large fire.
Just before midnight on Tuesday, reports started coming in over the scanner of an explosion on the docks near 1 Marina Way in Eureka.
Images from the scene show a large fire on at least one boat in the marina.