‘Get away from the boat!' 911 calls depict panic, chaos after Memorial Day boat explosion

Yahoo

03-06-2025

Panicked passengers diving into the water. Others waiting on the smoking boat, desperate for rescue. People passing out. Children burned. A pungent smell of gas.
These were the harrowing scenes following the sudden explosion of a 39-foot motorboat at a sandbar in the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale on Memorial Day, according to five newly released 911 calls.
A father of four died of his injuries. Eleven people were injured, and many remain hospitalized with severe burn injuries, including two children, ages five and seven.
The boat explosion, which took place about 5:45 p.m. near Ninth Street, was caused by fuel vapors igniting, according to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue. Investigators have not yet said what caused the vapors to ignite. A fireball erupted, then quickly burned out, sending 15 people flying and leaving a smoking boat in its wake. Those who could swim dove into the water to escape, while others returned to the boat to wait for help from nearby boaters, according to the calls.
One woman called 911 while still on the boat herself, the screams of other passengers audible in the background.
'I need a full address or a closest intersection,' the dispatcher said.
'Mami, I'm in the water, this is a marine emergency,' the woman replied.
'What's going on?'
'There's a burn, there's a fire on the boat,' the woman said. One of the passengers had passed out, she added. Nearby boaters were helping, throwing out lifejackets. A few minutes later, she said the passengers had all managed to evacuate onto other boats.
'We have kids on board, please,' she told the dispatcher, adding that they had been burned, along with at least six other people. In the background, someone yelled, 'get away from the boat!'
Another woman on a nearby boat witnessed the explosion and worried that the boat might explode again. She saw people jumping off of the boat and screaming for help. The boat was smoking, and she could see something that looked like oil, she said.
'I don't know if it's going to explode,' she told the dispatcher. '… There's still people on the boat. There's people that can't swim.'
She watched as one remaining girl on the boat spoke to someone on the phone. As the boat moved closer, the air became warmer.
'It smells like gas,' the woman said. 'It smells horrible.'
Meanwhile, two callers at the nearby Lauderdale Yacht Club also witnessed the explosion from land.
Both men said they saw the explosion, then people jumping into the water and several other boats driving up to help. Then they saw some of the people who jumped into the water get back onto the boat.
One of the callers said he saw kids on board and people 'flying' before they jumped into the water.
'They were all panicking,' he said.
Ten of the boat passengers, including the two children, were later taken by ambulance to the Miami Burn Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. A dog was on board but was not injured.
The father who died was identified in a GoFundMe as Joshua Fifi, 29. He was hospitalized with third-degree burns covering 70% of his body, and died days later.
Four boat explosions have taken place in Fort Lauderdale in the last six months, a high number for the amount of time. A second boat explosion in Fort Lauderdale left a man hospitalized two days after the Memorial Day one, according to Fire Rescue.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the explosion.
This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.