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Personal Watercraft, Ski Boat Collide, Killing Fire Chief

August 26, 2005

Horseplay on the water between a personal watercraft and a ski boat may have been a factor in the crash that killed popular Martin County Fire Battalion Chief Charles 'Chip' O'Hara, according to accounts of witnesses included in a preliminary state report recently released.

Witnesses told the first officers at the scene that O'Hara was operating a personal watercraft and fellow firefighter and friend Walter Rothe was driving a 21-foot Checkmate boat as the two tried to kick up 'rooster tails' in the water to spray each other on the Intracoastal Waterway, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report. The witnesses reported that O'Hara cut in front of the boat and was hit, throwing him to the water, where the boat propeller cut his left leg severely. The injury was listed as the cause of his death.

The report indicates that both vessels, which collided just east of the Rocky Point community around 6:15 p.m., had been at the Sandbar, a popular weekend party spot for boaters in the Intracoastal a little north of where the accident happened. Investigators found some empty beer cans and bottles on the boat but won't know whether O'Hara or Rothe had alcohol in their systems until lab results are returned, which could take several weeks.

The report made available is the first official written account of the accident to be released and probably will be the last until the investigation is complete, Fish and Wildlife spokesman Willie Puz said. The report was based on very early information, and different scenarios could be developed in the follow-up investigation, Puz emphasized.

Rothe's driver license is suspended because of a conviction last year for driving under the influence, and he is supposed to drive vehicles for work purposes only, but no license is required to operate a boat.