By: Isaac Yuan

When a 35-foot-long boat erupted, two women were killed, and two other men and one woman were rushed to the hospital because of burn-related injuries.

Long Beach Fire Captain Jake Heflin said that firefighters arrived at 5:17 p.m. and dispatched fire trucks and rescue boats to the scene. Bystanders were trying to extinguish the flames and told rescue workers that the boat was in the process of fueling at the time, but the exact cause of the fire is under investigation, Heflin said.

Firefighters with water cannons came to extinguish the fire, but they still sent county firefighting support to make sure the blaze did not spread to other boats, the fueling dock, or anything else that was flammable.

Daniel Quinn, a host at the nearby restaurant, said he heard a loud explosion. “There was a big bang and I looked up, and there was this ginormous plume of black smoke,” he said.

As police and firemen moved the boat to an isolation dock, it began to take on water and became partially submerged. Long Beach officials plan to use a salvage company to remove the sunken boat from the water.