Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Responsible For Weekend Death At Grand Lake

The names of the two people killed and several injured during the deadly and dangerous holiday weekend on two area lakes were released Monday.

Carbon monoxide poisoning killed one boater and sickened five others as they celebrated July 4 in the Duck Creek area of Grand Lake.

It’s an unusual thing to happen on the lake, but it’s important for boaters to know how to protect themselves.

People from all across the country came to Grand Lake this year to celebrate the Fourth of July, according to Grand River Dam Authority spokesperson, Justin Alberty.

“Thousands of boats, thousands and thousands of people," he said.

Grand Lake is known for its coves - where people like to tie their boats up together and hang out - but the holiday fun ended for one family when a man died Saturday in Duck Creek.

7/5/2015 Related Story: Investigation Continues Into Grand Lake Fatal Boat Crashes, Fire

Grand River Dam Authority Police said carbon monoxide built up in the cabin of the 1988 ChrisCraft boat, killing Myron Posivak of Arizona.

The odorless fumes made five others sick on the boat.

Alberty said this is the first carbon monoxide incident he’s heard of on Grand Lake.

“It's just very unusual this incident, this carbon monoxide poisoning. It certainly can happen, and we want people to be aware that it can happen, but for it to happen the way it did, it was really kind of an unusual event," he said.

Brad Williams sells boats on Grand Lake and said carbon monoxide detectors can be lifesavers.

"If you have that you stand a very good chance of being just fine," said Williams.

He said people need to always perform maintenance checks on their boats and make sure the detectors are working properly.

"It goes off sometimes and it annoys them. The truth is they should find out what's going on," said Williams. "Check your hoses for cracks, loose fittings, things like that because that's where your exhaust leaks come in."

The GRDA said it will be updating its boating safety guidelines to educate boaters about CO poisoning.

Paramedics treated five other people on the boat ranging in age from a minor to 60-years-old.

Three of them are from northeast Oklahoma and another is from Gilbert, Arizona.

Nine other people were also injured over the weekend when their boat caught fire Saturday at the Tera Miranda Marina on Grand Lake.

GRDA police said one of the victims, 20-year-old Rosalyn Yates of Grove, is still in the hospital. She’s one of three people flown to Tulsa after the 1987 Four Winns Sundance boat went up in flames just after it fueled up.

One minor was on board the 22-foot boat; other victims range from 19 to 44.

Witnesses said they saw some of them jumping off the boat.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

In a third accident on a different lake, a woman was killed near Hudson Lake.

Officials said Patricia Kurth of Big Cabin died when she fell off a 1994 pontoon party barge and was run over.