Seven Uninjured After Boat Fire

OCEAN CITY — A potentially tragic afternoon had a somewhat happy ending on Monday when a rented pontoon boat caught fire in the back bays near Assateague and West Ocean City, but all seven people on board were safely removed by a Good Samaritan.

Around 4:45 p.m. on Monday, in the midst of a sudden severe thunderstorm that soaked the resort area, seven people from New Jersey rented a pontoon boat from Under the Bridge Watersports and headed south in the Sinepuxent Bay for a late afternoon of tubing. The crew on the boat saw the skies darkening and the storm approaching and attempted to turn back.

According to Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP), the crew on the rented pontoon smelled something burning and the engine stopped working in the bay behind Mystic Harbor in West Ocean City. Attempts to restart the engine failed and flames suddenly appeared. Soon, the entire vessel was engulfed in flames.

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