Coast Guard looking for missing boaters who jumped from burning vessel

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- An Oklahoma teen-ager is among three people missing after jumping from a burning boat. <br><br>Keith Washington, 15, of Colcord, Okla., was missing Tuesday night along with Wilburn

Wednesday, March 22nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- An Oklahoma teen-ager is among three people missing after jumping from a burning boat.

Keith Washington, 15, of Colcord, Okla., was missing Tuesday night along with Wilburn Thompson, 54, and Barbara Thompson, 56, of Turlock. Washington was vacationing with five friends.

The Coast Guard and Solano County Sheriff's Department searched in vain Tuesday for the three missing boaters. The sheriff's department search was scheduled to resume today, although the Coast Guard called off its search.

A fisherman rescued five people from the water about 2 a.m. Tuesday after he saw that their 29-foot boat was on fire. He then notified the Coast Guard.

Those rescued were all from Colcord: John Blakfox, 18; James Mitchell, 16; Cecil Sixkiller, 16; James Payton, 17; and Payton's father, Elmer Payton, 57, sheriff's spokesman Gary Faulkner said.

Colcord is a town of about 600 in Delaware County near the Arkansas border. The elder Payton was listed in fair condition at the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, with burns. The teens were treated at North Bay Medical Center in Fairfield for minor injuries and released into the custody of Solano County Child Protective Services.

The sheriff's office was investigating the cause of the fire.