Overview

• Fire crews arrived within minutes and used a 500-gallon-per-minute pump aboard their firefighting boat to extinguish flames and tow the vessel ashore in about an hour.
• No injuries were reported after a passenger jumped overboard and was helped to shore by another occupant.
• The small recreational boat was declared a total loss following the fire roughly 200 yards offshore.
• Investigators from the Antioch Fire Department, Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois Conservation Police have opened a joint probe into the blaze’s cause.
• A Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson indicated that a recently repaired engine is under examination as a potential trigger of the fire.