Lehi man nearly dies after boat explodes off Washington coast

Lehi man nearly dies after boat explodes off Washington coast

(U.S. Coast Guard)


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PORT ANGELES, Wash. — A Lehi man is telling his dramatic story about how he nearly died of hypothermia after his boat exploded off the coast of Washington Sunday morning.

After being in the 46 degree water for nearly an hour, a strange feeling swept over Paul McIntyre.

"The strange thing is that I went from a panic state to feeling kind of comfortable about things as I got deeper into hypothermia," McIntyre said.

He lost all energy and coordination and his body seemed to be shutting down. He was beginning to die.

It all started when McIntyre was taking his boat from the Puget Sound to San Francisco. It was supposed to be a 14-day trip.

But along the way, McIntyre was overwhelmed by a strong smell of gas. After going to the upper deck to get away from it for a few minutes, he went back down and saw a fire near the steering area. Very shortly after, something made that fire grow quickly.

"Flames just started shooting, not straight up, but out everywhere," McIntyre said. "In fact, when I got out to the deck outside the cabin a big cylinder of flames, like it was in a flamethrower from World War II, shot right at me. I was low enough that it missed me.”

He jumped onto a life boat equipped with paddles and a VHF radio, and within roughly 30 seconds, McIntyre says the entire 34-foot party cruiser was up in flames.

“I just had no idea it could burn that fast," he said. "It was the kind of thing where if (I) stumbled getting off, I would have been dead.”

In this photo taken from a Coast Guard response boat, the vessel is shown exploding shortly before it split in half and sank.
In this photo taken from a Coast Guard response boat, the vessel is shown exploding shortly before it split in half and sank. (Photo: Coast Guard Station Neah Bay)

As he was paddling out, kerosene tanks and other flammable items set off smaller explosions.

"The heat was so intense that anything that was on that boat while it was up in flames for even one minute would have been cremated," he added.

McIntyre described it as looking like an “inferno from hell,” with big plumes of black smoke and large red balls of fire.

There was another problem. His inflatable life boat ripped on the swim step, so it was losing air. His legs were out of the icy water, but, his torso was submerged. His body temperature was dropping fast.

He made contact with the Coast Guard over the radio. Fog was making it harder for them to find McIntyre, so they had him count to 10 several times over the radio so they could pinpoint his location. But the cold water was getting to him.

"The last time they told me to count to 19, I said, 'One, two, three, four …' and I couldn’t get past four," McIntyre said. "Then I knew I was getting into deep hypothermia."

Several minutes later, a Coast Guard swimmer jumped into the water, placed him in a rescue basket and McIntyre was flown out by helicopter.


The heat was so intense that anything that was on that boat while it was up in flames for even one minute would have been cremated.

–Paul McIntyre


“Once I got in, they put a blanket on me. By that time, I was pretty much immobile. I couldn’t really pick up anything," McIntyre said. "I couldn’t talk that well."

McIntyre was sent to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles with severe hypothermia. He didn’t start to feel warmth again until he was in the hospital.

He says the rescue effort was highly professional, even though it was the first rescue attempt ever made by the Coast Guard’s Dolphin Crew.

This is the fourth time McIntyre has had hypothermia. Despite this, McIntyre still says he is an avid seaman. However, he won’t be making any more solo trips, and he’ll only travel in warmer water from now on.

“No more for me. Not on my own boat, anyway. I figure four times is enough warning," he said. “I’m not going to give the cruel, cold ocean a chance to get me anymore.”

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