TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Fire swiftly engulfed a shuttle boat Sunday afternoon used to ferry patrons to a casino ship off Florida’s Gulf Coast, forcing the crew and dozens of passengers to jump into chilly waters close to shore, authorities said.
Fifteen people complaining of chest pain, smoke inhalation and other minor injuries were taken to the hospital to be checked, authorities said, adding no injuries were life-threatening after the huge fire consumed the boat close to a residential neighborhood.
Port Richey Chief of Police Gerard DeCanio said all 50 passengers and the crew reached land safely as the fast-spreading flames devoured the shuttle boat. Huge flames leaped from the vessel and a dark plume of black smoke cut across sunny skies on an unusually chilly winter day in the Tampa Bay region.
“It looked pretty dramatic because the shuttle boat burned really fast,” DeCanio told The Associated Press by phone.
DeCanio said the shuttle boat was close to shore when it began having engine problems after leaving its moorings at Port Richey, a suburban community about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northwest of Tampa. He said the crew decided to turn back veering close to a residential neighborhood as smoke belched and then flames kicked up.