Investigation underway after massive fire sinks boats, damages docks

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — There were at least $800,000 in damages, and several sunken boats after a massive fire on a dock at Wheel House Court in Camden County overnight.

The Lake Ozark Fire Protection District says they got the call around 1 a.m. and responded to an engulfed dock, and were able to put the fire out with the help of several other departments.  

Reuben Zapata and Tierra Conway saw the flames from their apartment and called 911.

"We were in bed and I heard screaming and I ran to the door and just saw a huge fire," Conway said.

"I look outside and it's just completely engulfed in flames, and so the first thing we did, I told her to get the phone and call 911," Zapata said.

The two went down to the area to check on those nearby.

"We ran downstairs because we did know that there's a couple of families that live out here on family boats. We come out here and fish all the time, so we talked to them. We made sure that they were all right," Zapata said.

Videos of the fire quickly swarmed social media, and Zapata says they've seen plenty of people already helping those impacted.

"That's something we were actually talking about this morning is just after posting the video on that Lake area group, seeing just the amount of support and like everybody's showing that their condolences for them, for the families and not knowing those people, that's a whole, whole thing. I think that the community will definitely pull together to help them out. I hope they do," Zapata said.

Cody Garner with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources had been on the scene for nearly 12 hours when he talked to OzarksFirst about his team's role in the response.

"We got the call last night. I came down about 2:00 in the morning, got with the fire marshal's office and the Highway Patrol, and then we come in and we try to contain the spill or any contaminants there. So in this case, you know, the fuel and the oil and a lot of the debris," Garner said. 'We try to contain that, and then once we do that, we try to make sure that the owner gets a contractor or somebody to come in and do a environmental remediation right to clean up the scene."

Garner says it's important to get the contamination contained.

"People here at the lake, they don't want to swim in fuel. When I come down here, I don't want to swim in the fuel or oil that's, you know, leaked into the lake. So the consequences could be I mean, we've got a beautiful, beautiful natural resource here and we want it to remain that way," Garner said. "We want the natural life to stay here. We want the wildlife to flourish. That way we can catch it and feel comfortable eating what we're catching, and then at the same time, we want to be able to come out and enjoy the lake, you know, and not have stuff in there."

He adds that the fire started overnight, which brought challenges to his team as well.

"We have lights. I've got the truck over there. I've got lights on the truck so I can put those out, but still see a sheen sometimes in the water. I could smell it. You can smell it, but to see where the actual fuel or the oil is sometimes difficult, especially in the evening, you know, after dark," Garner said. "I went with the Highway Patrol on their boat, circled around, found some of the areas."

Zapata and Conway thank the first responders for such a prompt and massive response.

"God bless our first responders. They showed up and they took care of it. They definitely did a very good job of containing it because some of the boats and the jet skis came loose, so that was a concern. There was one point the oil spread across the water, so the water came up in flames and we were kind of wondering if the other dock was going to make it or not," Zapata said.

The Lake Ozark Fire Protection District says the state Fire Marshal is currently investigating the fire's origin and cause.