CLEARLAKE OAKS – Five people and two dogs enjoying an evening on a pontoon boat hit trouble late Saturday, when their boat was damaged and capsized.

Richard Haney, the main operator of the Northshore Fire Protection District's Clearlake Oaks fire boat, said the call on the capsized pontoon boat came in around 11 p.m. Saturday.

The group was located in the water near the capsized boat on the west side of Rattlesnake Island, Haney said.

One of the boat's pontoons had been damaged, which caused it to take on water, Haney explained. The boat also may have been slightly overloaded; those factors, combined with the wind and high waves, conspired to tip the boat over.

Two Lake County Sheriff's Marine Patrol boats also responded along with the fire boat, said Haney.

The Marine Patrol rescued the people and canines from the water while Haney towed the boat to shore. “Our job mainly was to get rid of the hazard in the water,” Haney said.

Once the boat was towed in, Haney said the fire boat crew uprighted it. He said the boat was completely damaged.

Although the boat wasn't in such good shape, everyone else was OK, said Haney.

“Everybody's fine. The dogs are good,” he reported.

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