A boat captain made it safely back to shore after his vessel caught fire and sank in the middle of a lake southwest of Ottawa this weekend.
The 60-year-old man was on a leisurely boat ride with his dog on Saturday when the 30-foot vessel caught fire in the Rideau Ferry area.
“We saw the smoke from the boat landing at the yacht club and we just decided to check it out,” said Mason Cassel, describing the fire in the middle of Lake Rideau.
Cassel said he went to try to help, but it wasn’t safe to go near the burning vessel.
“Pretty scary and we stayed way back because we didn’t want to get caught by exploding gas tanks,” Cassel said.
Kayla Gilfillen said they saw “very black heavy, heavy smoke” in the middle of the lake.
Ontario Provincial Police say the captain and his dog were able to leave the ship and return to shore safely.
“He did make an effort to put out the fire after being alerted due to the fire alarm on board,” said OPP Acting Sgt. Erin Cranton said Sunday. “There was another boat nearby that offered assistance in the form of a fire extinguisher to try and put the fire out before the fire crew arrived.”
The man suffered minor burns in the fire. Cranton said his dog is in good condition.
Zachary Reynolds-Middleton says a bunch of boats crowded around the burning ship trying to help.
“We saw them arrive as the boat was sinking.”
Charred debris from the boat washed ashore on Sunday and police said the sunken boat would be recovered from the lake. The Ministry of the Environment has been notified of the incident.
“A large amount of that fuel was burned by the fire,” Cranton said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but the OPP say there is nothing to indicate the fire is suspicious.
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