Women and Group of Teens Help Men Whose Boat Exploded on Lake Michigan: 'So Impressed with These Kids'
Both men have been released from the hospital, authorities tell PEOPLE
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Scene from a boat explosion in Lake Michigan on July 23, 2024Two women and a group of 13-year-olds helped rescue two men after their boat exploded and caught fire on Lake Michigan this week.
According to a news release, The Lake County Sheriff’s Marine Unit responded to a report on Tuesday, July 23, that two people were hurt following a boat explosion in the lake.
The deputies arrived at the scene and found a 25-foot fiberglass hull powerboat on fire, authorities added.
“Sheriff’s Marine Unit Deputies responded to North Point Marina and launched their Lake Michigan Patrol Boat,” officials said. “Prior to their arrival, a good Samaritan transported the two occupants of the boat, a 46-year-old man of Washington and a 55-year-old man of Franklin Park, to shore.”
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Scene from a boat explosion on Lake Michigan July 23, 2024Tonia Logan told CBS affiliate WBBM that she took seven 13-year-old kids on her pontoon boat when they saw the explosion and the two men in the water.
Logan told her fellow passengers to put on their life jackets as she directed the pontoon to the scene of the explosion to offer help.
"We see [the two men] in the water, and we can see they are severely injured – definite burns – but we did not know anything else,” Logan, who called 911, recalled to WBBM. “They were floating on a piece of board, and we didn't know how else their injuries, or the extent of their injuries. They were in shock, and in a lot of pain, a ton of pain."
Related: U.S. Coast Guard Rescues 2 Children and 3 Adults 'Clinging Onto' Capsized Boat in Florida
Logan and her crew tended to the injured men after they were able to climb into the pontoon.
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Speaking with WGN-TV, Cindy Owen, another pontoon passenger, said that one of the injured men told her that they had just filled their fiberglass boat with 40 gallons of gas before the explosion.
“They were actually wearing life jackets, and they were holding on to a piece of their boat,” said Cindy Owen, per the outlet. “Tonia got the boat really close to them, and then they just swam up to our ladder and climbed aboard.”
The unoccupied boat sank in the waters after it burned for 90 minutes, authorities said, noting that the two men were later taken to the hospital in serious condition. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office tells PEOPLE that both have since been released.
The Illinois Conservation Police are investigating the incident, authorities said.
Tonia shared with WBBM that she was "so impressed with these kids" and is "thankful to God that we were there and able to help."
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