A family of four was injured, including a child hospitalized with burn injuries, after they jumped off a boat that became engulfed in flames near the Route 12 bridge in Fox Lake.
The Fox Lake Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 2:15 p.m. Sunday to Arrow Marine, 82 Route 12, for a report of a boat fire.
Fox Lake Fire Protection District Lt. Jake Geist said a family of four was on the Nippersink Lake on a boat when it caught fire.
The family, which included two adults and two children, jumped off the boat into the water, Geist said.
They swam back to shore and all four were evaluated by paramedics.
One of the children suffered burns from the fire and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, Geist said.
The other three family members were treated at the scene and did not require transport to the hospital.
Fire crews extinguished the fire and the boat, which had drifted, sank in the shallow channel between Nippersink Lake and Pistakee Lake.
The boat was towed back to shore and a towing company was requested to remove it from the water.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Fox Lake Fire Protection District, Geist said.