VIDEO: Loud bang and screams of distress alerted onlookers to Napier boat fire
A loud bang followed by screams of distress and the glow from the initial flames of an explosion alerted those nearby to a boat fire in Napier's Inner Harbour.
But onlookers watched in horror as they realised a woman and man were still onboard - the latter intent on trying to save his boat.
A man, who did not wish to be named, had been fishing off the wharf with his children when the incident occurred just before 8pm last night.
"We heard it before anything else really," he told Hawke's Bay App. "It sounded like they were revving the outboard motor up for some reason, cause I remember thinking 'gees mate you're scaring all the fish away,' as the revving had continued for a while and was quite loud and noticeable."
"My kids had just come back up from exploring underneath the wharf, right then we heard the revving of the outboard motor get extra loud right before a huge Ba-Boom followed by screams of distress and the glow from the initial flames of the explosion."
When they ran to give aid they came to realise the pair were still standing onboard as their outboard, and parts of the boat's stern were ablaze.
"The female quickly jumped overboard to swim away, as the two were trying to react and cope with the initial shock I’m assuming.
"The male occupant was hesitant but forced to bail too in the end, but was still trying to save the boat somehow by hanging on to the anchor rope."
Boat Ramp Eatery General Manager Vikas Dhabba said it was "pretty scary".
He immediately returned to work after receiving a phone call from his on-duty manager.
"As soon as I got the phone call that there was a fire I just said 'lock the building and get out of there'," he said. "The priority was the safety of the staff and it was pretty scary because obviously with the petrol onboard anything could have happened."
"Once they extinguished the fire, the owners went with the fire brigade and they went into the boat to get their belongings out. I saw them giving each other big hugs and there was a lot of emotion as you would imagine."
Harbourmaster Martin Moore said the boat caught fire while the pair were trying to launch using an outboard that had not been started since March 2021.
"They had just fueled it up before they came into the inner harbour and were taking it out to put it through its paces."
Once the pair had abandoned the boat a larger pleasure boat in the area used its propeller wash to push the drifting vessel closer to the wharf for the awaiting firefighters.
While nobody was hurt, and there was no pollution or damage to infrastructure, Moore said it could have been a lot worse.
"The silver lining in all this is that the pair of both slept in their own beds last night rather than a hospital bed."
The message they want to get across is that this may have been avoided if the outboard motor had been serviced by a professional or properly serviced ashore before they tried to start the boat.
"When your boat has been parked up for such a long period of time, we strongly recommend that you get it serviced by a professional before you try and use it again and hopefully that would eliminate the chances of this happening."
The boat was brought back onto the trailer and taken away by the owner.
A staff member at the Boat Ramp Eatery (formerly known as the Jandal Bar) grabbed a fire extinguisher but realised it was "impossible to reach the flames from his or any of our positions, including the boat occupants who were now both floating in the water," the man said.
A lady who called emergency services "urged the man to leave the boat alone" and was heard saying "It's not worth it mate".
"Her urgency was justified as the man had also communicated amongst all the chaos, that there was also 60 litres of petrol somewhere on the boat."
The man said the lady emergency services attended quickly, and the woman who alerted them also deserves praise "for keeping onlookers at bay and generally informed, as most were more fascinated at the spectacle other than any immediate danger".
Boat Ramp Eatery General Manager Vikas Dhabba said it was "pretty scary".
He immediately returned to work after receiving a phone call from his on-duty manager.
"As soon as I got the phone call that there was a fire I just said 'lock the building and get out of there'," he said. "The priority was the safety of the staff and it was pretty scary because obviously with the petrol onboard anything could have happened."
"Once they extinguished the fire, the owners went with the fire brigade and they went into the boat to get their belongings out. I saw them giving each other big hugs and there was a lot of emotion as you would imagine."
Harbourmaster Martin Moore said the boat caught fire while the pair were trying to launch using an outboard that had not been started since March 2021.
"They had just fueled it up before they came into the inner harbour and were taking it out to put it through its paces."
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Hawke's Bay District Manager Ken Cooper said firefighters were met by the owners who informed them that they had flooded the engine.
"When they went to start the craft, a significant amount of fuel lying in the engine has ignited."
Short of swimming to the boat, firefighters used "ingenuity" to bring the boat closer to them.
"They asked another vessel to use the wash from its engine to create waves with the intent to push part of the boat into the launch. Then firefighters were able to throw a rope onto the boat."
He said the owners had gotten a "real scare". "They were concerned about what could have happened because usually they take family."
The incident highlighted the importance of having a means of calling 111 in the case of an emergency, no matter how close to shore, Cooper said.
While nobody was hurt, and there was no pollution or damage to infrastructure, Moore said it could have been a lot worse.
"The silver lining in all this is that the pair of both slept in their own beds last night rather than a hospital bed."
The message they want to get across is that this may have been avoided if the outboard motor had been serviced by a professional or properly serviced ashore before they tried to start the boat.
"When your boat has been parked up for such a long period of time, we strongly recommend that you get it serviced by a professional before you try and use it again and hopefully that would eliminate the chances of this happening."
The boat was brought back onto the trailer and taken away by the owner.
