‘I almost lost my family in one day.' Survivor recounts horror of boat explosion
Cassandra Rivera remembers every detail of the Memorial Day boat ride that led her and her two young sons to be hospitalized with severe burns after the boat burst into flames.
'I was giving my little one, Kash, water, and he looked at me and said 'Mommy, I think something bad is going to happen,'' she said. 'All I could hear on the other side [of the boat] was my husband screaming 'I smell fuel, I smell fuel. Please stop!'
A few moments later, the 39-foot Sea Ray exploded in the Intracoastal Waterway off Fort Lauderdale, sending 11 of the 15 passengers on board to the hospital. The boat's operator, 29-year-old Joshua Fifi, died in the hospital days later.
Rivera's two sons — 5 year-old Kash and 7-year-old Anthony — were badly burned. Kash has burns on 40% of his body while Anthony has 80%. Rivera sustained burns to roughly 20% of her body.
On Wednesday, two weeks after the tragedy, she spoke up about the boat explosion at a press conference at Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she and her children have been treated.
'I can't thank them enough. I mean, Jackson saved our lives,' she said.
Kash is progressing smoothly in his recovery, with Rivera mentioning he has bouts of delirium due to his young age and trauma left from the explosion. He is expected to be discharged within the next two weeks.
Anthony, while conscious and alert, remains intubated. For burns as severe as his, surgeons perform skin transplant surgeries, among other procedures.
'But sometimes the skin is damaged to the point of not being able to heal itself, and then we have to do skin grafting, which is basically a transplant,' said Jackson burn care expert and trauma surgeon Dr. Carl Schulman. 'In extremely, extremely serious cases, there are companies and labs that grow thin layers of skin cells . . . We use those in some of the more severe cases.'
Rivera has been discharged from her week-and-a-half stay at Ryder's intensive care unit, and her burns, covering her shoulders, hands, thighs and toes, are healing steadily.
She and her husband, Antonio Rivera, who sustained minor burns in the boat explosion, spend most of their days at their sons' bedsides at Ryder.
'I sleep on a cot beside my son's bed. If he needs anything, I get up,' said the mother. 'I'm glad I'm going through [rehab] before my boys are . . . I can relate to them, and I know exactly how they're feeling, so I can comfort them a little bit more.'
Rivera said she and her husband knew the owner of the boat, who had invited them to on the excursion. She didn't name the boat's owner.
'It was a private boat. We knew the owner of the boat, and we thought when we were going out, it was just going to be us, the owner and the captain of the boat,' she said. 'The captain of the boat invited all his friends, so all the other victims and burn survivors are not our friends. We met them that day.'
Gas vapors likely cause of explosion: Fire Rescue
Fort Lauderdale fire officials say fuel vapors in the engine compartment of the inboard-engine boat were the likely culprit of the fire. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state police agency investigating the blast, said the explosion happened when Fifi started the port, or left, engine around 5:45 p.m. that day.
The incident remains under investigation, according to the FWC. The Rivera family says they are exploring their legal options as they wait for more information from the agency.
Unfortunately, cases like Rivera's are the extreme end of a larger string of boat fires in South Florida.
The Sea Ray was the second boat to go up in flames in Fort Lauderdale that week. A 30-foot boat caught fire just off the beach in Fort Lauderdale two days later, on May 28. There was one person on board, who jumped off the vessel and swam to shore before paramedics took him to the hospital to be treated for injuries.
Also on Memorial Day, a 48-foot fishing yacht caught fire off Jupiter Inlet. The cause of that fire remains under investigation.
And, last Friday, six boats, including a 90-foot vessel, burned up at a Sunny Isles Beach condominium dock. No one was injured in the fire, which was triggered by one boat going up in flames and spreading to five other boats.
Boat fires this year
Florida averages about 35 boat fires every year, according to data released by the FWC.
So far this year, there have been six boat fires in Fort Lauderdale, according to the city's Fire Rescue Department. Last year, there were 15 boat fires in Fort Lauderdale, up from four in 2021, with 11 each in 2022 and 2023, the department said.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue released data to the Herald this week showing it has responded to 11 vessel fires so far this year. Last year, there were 32 boat fires, compared to 27 the year before, and 26 each in 2022 and 2021, according to the department.
'You never know what's going to happen. I didn't expect to get on a boat, after boating my whole entire life, and for it to just explode on me,' said Rivera.
She said that while she doesn't plan on boycotting boats anytime soon, it's important to practice safe boating habits to prevent 'fluke accidents' like hers. She also reflected on how her near-death experience has changed her views on the importance of life's moments.
'I almost lost my whole family in one day. It opens up your eyes, and you just have to realize each day is granted to you.'
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