Lake Taupō harbourmaster issued warning to teenager for boat fire

The teenager had no lifejacket on when he jumped into Lake Taupō to escape. Photo / 123rf

By RNZ

The Lake Taupō harbourmaster has issued a warning to a teenager in charge of a boat that caught fire just before Christmas.

The 14-year-old leapt in the water off Kinloch and multiple boats and a helicopter spent about an hour rescuing him.

Police at the time said that without a lifejacket, he was “lucky to survive”.

They also said it was “incredibly frustrating”, given the bylaw restrictions on people under 15 driving boats.

The harbourmaster team said they talked to the owner of the boat about the age limit and asked for an incident report.

“After consideration, the harbourmaster did not issue an infringement to the operator of the vessel ... The harbourmaster took an educational approach and gave a warning.”

The rescue was marked by police first cancelling a helicopter that was good to go, then almost half an hour later – after volunteer firefighters had motored out to look at the burning boat – calling it in to find the boy, who had floated at least a kilometre away.

– RNZ