Updated: 7:33 am, Fri Nov 28, 2014.
by Nathan Bechtold

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. — A man who was nearly killed in a boat explosion at Toad Cove Marina on July 31, 2010 was awarded $15 million by a jury last week.

On Monday, Nov. 17, after a three-week trial, the jury deliberated for about an hour, and came back with the decision to recompense Donald Black for $1.3 million in medical bills, $1.5 million in economic damages, as well as a life-care plan due to increased medical risks resulting from his injuries, according to Tim Morgan, one of Black’s attorneys. Also representing Black were attorneys Rob Sullivan and Eric Bergmanis.

The remainder of the funds awarded were for the pain and suffering and loss of quality of life that resulted from the tragic explosion.

The explosion occurred after Black had refueled his 2000 Baja 38 Special named Euphoria at Camden On The Lake’s Toad Cove Marina. Morgan says surveillance video and testimony revealed Black turned on the bilge pump after refueling, and suddenly the boat and surrounding water burst into flames.

“After the initial fire shot out of the engine compartment of Mr. Black’s boat, there was also fire on the water,” Morgan said, adding, “There was gasoline on the water.”

The source of that gasoline was ultimately the crux of the case.

“The question was, ‘Did that gasoline come from the boat, or did it come from somewhere else?’” Morgan said.

The fire on the water burned out within a minute or so, Morgan said, but the boat burned for an hour before firefighters sank it to extinguish the flames.

Black spent months in rehab, after suffering burns over 40 percent of his body. “His heart stopped six times in the first 60 days,” Morgan said, adding Black “fought for his life” and “had a remarkable drive to get back and survive this.”

Once he was on the mend, Black filed suit against Leisure Hotels, which operates Camden On The Lake, and Brunswick, the company that owned Baja when Black’s boat was manufactured.

While Brunswick’s attorneys argued the fuel on the water came from a leak underneath the dock, Morgan said the evidence indicated otherwise. He explained that the fire investigator determined, based on burn patterns, the boat’s fuel hose had separated from the filler neck (where the fuel nozzle is inserted) when the boat was being refueled. Black’s attorneys concluded the gasoline then spilled into the bilge and made its way out of the bilge's drain hole, onto the water. Morgan noted the amount of gas on the water “was measured in gallons, not ounces,” based on surveillance video showing the explosion.

The exact source for the ignition of the fire was not part of the case, but it appeared that a spark from Black’s activation of the bilge pump caused it, Morgan said. He added, “Once you get a fuel source like that, static electricity or anything can ignite it.”

As Black’s legal team began to investigate why the hose might have come free, Morgan says they discovered Brunswick had changed the boat's design from 1999 to 2000. In the 1999 model, there were slots for two clamps to secure the hose to the filler neck. But 2000 models only featured one slot, even though the hose still had two clamps.

Brunswick argued this difference was irrelevant, but Black’s legal team contended it had weakened that connection, allowing the fuel nozzle to push the hose off the filler neck, causing the massive fuel spill. The jury found that explanation plausible.

Ultimately, Leisure Hotels was exonerated, and the full amount of $15 million will fall on Brunswick’s shoulders.

Morgan says Brunswick could still appeal the verdict, but he doesn’t know whether they’ll choose to.

He said after the trial, Black thanked the jury for their service, noting the jurors had worked on Veteran’s Day and Election Day.

Morgan felt Black was “very satisfied with the jury’s verdict, and would like for it to be recognized by the company or upheld by the court.”

He noted the $15 million is the highest amount of damages awarded in Missouri this year, and may be an all-time record in Camden County.

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