by Jason Scheer
The fire started at approximately 11:30 a.m. on Monday, after the victim pulled the cover off the engine of his boat, said Oceanside Fire Department Chief John Traverso. The 72-year-old man, whom officials are not identifying, had apparently been working on his boat the day before. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The blaze was quickly brought under control thanks to the efforts of 40 firefighters who responded, according to Oceanside Fire Department Deputy Chief Sean Lynch. The victim suffered second-degree burns to his right arm and leg and was taken to the burn unit at Nassau University Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition, said Traverso.
Jacqueline Lewis, who lives across the street from the boat yard, made the call to the fire department. Upon returning home from shopping, she noticed thick black smoke rising above the yard. She also saw a man with severe burns on his legs. She dropped her grocery bags and ran into the house to call the fire department and 911 to tell them of the burn victim. Lewis said that although it was only a matter of minutes between her call and the arrival of the first fire truck, it seemed to take much longer.
"To me it felt like forever, but in reality it took like six or seven minutes," she said.
Charles Halbhuber and his wife, Brenda, were planning to take their own boat from the Mooring yard for a day on the local waters when they noticed the smoke rising from behind the boat yard. Halbhuber, a retired New York City firefighter who lives in Long Beach, pulled into the parking lot, where he saw the man motioning toward him and asking for help.
The man was stuck on one side of his boat, with a wall of flames separating him from the Halbhubers. With no other options, he eventually did make his way toward them, walking through the flames. That's when he sustained the burns, said Halbhuber.
"His hands were black, the skin on his forearm and inner thighs were burned," Halbhuber said.
"He was obviously in shock," said Brenda Halbhuber.
The couple acted quickly, dipping towels they had in their car into a cooler of ice that they had just filled in anticipation of an afternoon on the water. They wrapped the man's burns in the cool towels and waited for officials to arrive.
"It's a good thing we were here," Halbhuber said. "It looks like at least a second-degree burn."
A person who asked not to be identified said that the carburetor on the victim's boat had been removed, and that when the man turned the boat's engine on, it caught fire. Others who were present at the scene also said that the carburetor may have been taken off the boat. A call to the Mooring Boat Yard had not been returned at press time.
