Madison Fire Department responds to a boat fire on Lake Monona

The Madison Fire Department was dispatched for a pontoon boat on fire near the Olin-Turville boat launch. The lake rescue team responded to perform a rescue of occupants and suppress the fire. Once on site the team was able to confirm that the sole occupant of the boat had swam to shore and was uninjured. The department was able to extinguish the boat fire and the flammable liquids burning on the top of the water using the fire boats onboard pump and water cannon. It was challenging to extinguish since the boat was unanchored and continued to move towards shore while on fire. Crews had to work to keep the boat away from the shore until fully extinguished. Once the fire was out, they towed the boat to the landing and secured it. The owner stated that he was having mechanical issues and noticed a fire that became too big to put out with the fire extinguisher.