August 28, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
A Chestnut Mound man had a close call Tuesday morning after his boat caught fire on Center Hill Lake at the Floating Mill Recreation Area.
Dale Heady said he had just launched his 18 foot 1989 Rinker pleasure boat from the boat ramp and was only a few hundred yards off shore when he heard a pop and then saw the fire. “At first I thought I had hit a rock. A couple nearby heard it too and told me later they thought it was a backfire,” he said.
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Heady grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried unsuccessfully to put out the blaze. The then put on his life jacket, jumped in the lake, and swam safely to shore.
Members of the TWRA, US Army Corps of Engingeer Rangers, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, and DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded. A hose from a boat was used to spray water on the burning boat but it could not be salvaged.