Danvers man blown 20 feet in the air after watercraft explosion in Maine

By Evan Allen, Globe Correspondent

A 31-year-old Danvers man was blown 20 feet into the air when his personal watercraft exploded on Saturday at a marina on Long Lake in Naples, Maine.

Karl Marchionda had just fueled up his watercraft at around 4:50 in the afternoon and was trying to start it when a spark ignited vapors in the hull of the vessel, said Maine District Game Warden Neal Wykes. Officials are still trying to determine where the vapors came from, he said.

The blast sent pieces of the craft flying, and launched Marchionda face-first onto the dock, said Wykes, who said he arrived about five minutes later.

“He was conscious when I got there,” said Wykes. “He doesn’t remember the explosion or being thrown in the air or landing on the dock.”

Marchionda had several broken ribs and two fractured vertebrae as well as abrasions and lacerations to his face, said Wykes. He was taken to Bridgton Hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.