Boat Taking on Water Prompts Multi-Agency Response Near Walnut Creek Marina

Fairview Township, PA – Water rescue personnel were dispatched Sunday afternoon after reports of a vessel taking on water near the Walnut Creek Marina. At approximately 2 PM, Fairview Lake Shore Fire Department was dispatched for a possible watercraft in distress in the vicinity of the Walnut Creek Marina. Lake City Fire Company and West County Paramedics 116 were also dispatched to assist. While crews were en route, the Erie County Department of Public Safety advised responding units that the original report came from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which believed the vessel was taking on water. Responders were advised to look for a 23-foot white-and-blue boat with five people aboard.

Fairview Lake Shore’s Rescue 508 responded to the Walnut Creek Marina to rendezvous with Boat 519, which then launched with a crew of four toward the coordinates provided by Erie County Dispatch. Meanwhile, Lake City Fire Company’s Utility 579 responded to Avonia Beach, where Boat 578 was launched amphibiously with a crew of three.

Boat 519 arrived on scene a short time later and located the distressed vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard was already on scene, with most of the five occupants transferred aboard the Coast Guard vessel. Coast Guard personnel remained on the disabled boat, actively bailing water as it was taken under tow.

The Coast Guard towed the vessel back to the Walnut Creek Marina while continuing efforts to remove water. Once inside the marina, crews attempted to secure the boat alongside the courtesy dock and load it onto a trailer. Despite those efforts, the vessel continued taking on water, eventually sinking and coming to rest on the bottom of the marina. The Pennsylvania Great Lakes Emergency Spill Response Trailer was requested to the scene for containment booms. Fire department personnel then deployed containment booms around the submerged vessel to help contain a fuel leak.