Boat explodes on Waterford lake, leaving three seriously injured

3 injured in Oakland County boat explosion; teenager's body more than 50 percent burned

At about 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon a boat exploded in Oakland County, sending three people to the hospital, including a 16-year-old boy with more than half of his body covered in burns.

WATERFORD, MICH (Fox 2) - A father, his son and a family friend were seriously injured while at a lake in Waterford this weekend.

They had taken a boat out on Saturday afternoon when it exploded.

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According to police, the father, a 45-year-old man, and the two boys, both 16-years-old, were about to go out onto Pontiac Lake with they flipped on the ignition of their 17-foot-Chris Craft boat. The boat exploded the moment the ignition was flipped on. 

One boy was transported to the hospital with burns over 50 percent of his body. He is in critical condition. The father and his son are both hospitalized with severe burns, and their condition was stable. 

They were entering the lake from a public boat launch near M-59 and Williams Lake Road.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team, along with Waterford Township Fire Department, were called to the scene about 1:20 p.m. The fire had burned itself out when rescue personnel arrived. 

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation by the Search and Rescue Team.