A 3-year-old child who suffered serious injuries when a boat became engulfed in flames in Fox Lake is recovering from his injuries, along with his family who were also injured.
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 was on the Nippersink Lake on a boat when it caught fire.
The family, which included adults and 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.
A fifth family member who was on the boat was uninjured.
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.
Anna Gravedoni Wilson said it was her family’s boat and the motor “exploded and engulfed in flames in seconds.”
Wilson and her mother suffered minor burns, while Wilson’s husband and 3-year-old child “got the worst of it.”
The husband was released from the hospital and is recovering. The child was still in the hospital as of Monday with second-degree burns to his legs and hand.
“We all have a lot of physical and mental healing to get through which seems to be impossible during this difficult time,” Wilson said.
A GoFundMe account has already raised nearly $14,000 for the family.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Fox Lake Fire Protection District, Geist said.