LAKEPORT, Calif. — One person was seriously injured on July 4 following a late-night boat crash near Lakeport.
Lauren Berlinn, spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, said the collision that night on Clear Lake involved two vessels and occurred shortly after the city of Lakeport’s fireworks display.
A 2019 Ranger bass boat, operated by a single individual, was traveling east on Clear Lake when it collided with a 2017 Sun Tracker Pontoon boat carrying eight occupants, Berlinn said.
As a result of the collision, the operator of the pontoon boat was ejected into the water, Berlinn said.
The sheriff’s office did not release the names of those involved in the crash.
The first call that came across the radio about the crash that night was just after 10:20 p.m.
Central Dispatch said multiple callers reported that people were in the water and at least one person was injured.
The location was given as Reeves Point, off of Reeves Lane near Konocti Vista Casino.
Dispatch sent Lakeport Fire personnel to the casino, where they were staging their units, while three Sheriff’s Marine Patrol boats responded. Cal Fire also was notified and staged, based on radio reports.
Fire personnel met the sheriff’s boat and responded out to the scene to conduct the rescue, while also requesting an air ambulance meet them at Lampson Field.
Radio reports indicated that it took nearly a half-hour to remove the injured boat driver from the water and transport them back to the waiting ambulance on shore.
Berlinn said the pontoon boat driver was transported by air ambulance to an out-of-county hospital for treatment.
The remaining seven occupants of the pontoon boat, as well as the operator of the bass boat, reported no injuries, Berlinn said.
At the time of Berlinn’s Monday report, alcohol was not suspected as having contributed to the boat collision.
She said the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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One injured in July 4 night boat crash
- Elizabeth Larson
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