Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

A Waterford Township man, his son and a friend were seriously injured Sunday when the pleasure boat they were preparing to take onto Pontiac Lake apparently exploded after the ignition switch was turned on.

"A lot of people don't understand that it's gasoline fumes that are very explosive, not necessarily the liquid by itself," said Sheriff Michael Bouchard. "You have to have the ability to expel those fumes and keep air movement in confined environments.

The father, 45, and the boys, both 16, were on the 17-foot Chris-Craft boat at the public boat launch near M-59 and Williams Lake Road when the explosion happened. The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team, along with Waterford Township Fire Department, were called to the scene about 1:20 p.m.

The fire had burned itself out when rescue personnel arrived.

"That's one of the things boaters need to check, if they have a blower motor on their boat, is it in working order," Sheriff Bouchard added. "Obviously, having fire extinguishers and the capability of putting out a fires, because even though you're in a body of water, one of the worst things to happen is to have a fire on a boat."

One boy was transported to the hospital with burns over 50 percent of his body. He is in critical condition. The father and his son are both hospitalized with severe burns, and their condition was stable.

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation by the Search and Rescue Team.