GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — A boater was airlifted to a hospital after a weekend fire, according to the United States Coast Guard’s Great Lakes Division.
The incident occurred Saturday around 2 p.m. on Lake Erie, according to a social media post from the USCG Great Lakes. It said its Marblehead station received a report that two pleasure craft boats were on fire in Put In Bay Harbor near South Bass Island, Ohio.
According to the Coast Guard, the driver of one of the boats entered the water after being burned. The boater was rescued by nearby Good Samaritans and EMS and then airlifted to a nearby hospital. The severity of their injuries is unknown.
The Coast Guard says its crew extinguished the fires on the two boats and then confirmed that no one else was on board.
A single boat was towed from the scene. According to the Coast Guard, the other vessel ran aground on Gibraltar Island.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources offers some important boating safety tips, such as having life jackets and a fire extinguisher on board.
