Fire On Board

Porter Bay, VT

44 13.71 N 073 18.97 W

The scariest thing I can think of is fire on board a small airplane.  The second scariest thing is fire aboard a big airplane.  The third scariest is fire on board a boat.

Yesterday, we read a news report about a power boat that burned to the waterline just as it exited the Federal Lock in Troy, NY.  Since we exit the same lock a few weeks back it really hit home.  In this case, luckily, the two people on board escaped without injury.

I'm sure that I'm not the most safety conscious skipper in the world.   However when it comes to fire safety, I think about it long and hard.   

What is our status?  First, we don't carry 360 gallons of gasoline as that boat in Troy did.  Gasoline is the fuel in almost all disastrous boat fires.   However, we do carry 5 gallons of gas and 40 gallons of diesel fuel and 10 gallons of propane.  We carry the propane in a lazarette compartment walled off and with it's own drain.   We carry the gasoline in a jug on deck where leaks would run out the scupper.

We have a Halon automatic fire extinguisher in the engine compartment, plus 2 two pound extinguishers type ABC, one in the cockpit and one in the cabin.  We also have a can of "flame stop" liquid fire stopper.  It is not USCG approved.  However, it doesn't leave behind a messy  layer of corrosive powder everywhere, therefore there is less hesitation to use it on a minor galley fire.

I got dinged by the surveyor for not having annual inspection tags on all extinguishers.   Whoops, I've never done that.  The extinguishers come with a guage and a 7 year warranty.  I thought that if I buy new ones every 5 years, that would be enough.  Nope, the NFPA code says that a certified inspector must do it every year, and mark it on a tag.  (New extinguishers in the stores don't come with tags.  They aren't compliant until inspected and tagged.)  How many readers of this blog actually do that with extinguishers they own on their boat, car or home?   Anyhow, I'm searching for an inspector in Burlington.  Will it cost $20 to inspect an extinguisher that costs $20 new?

I've also been shopping for extinguisher upgrades.  I want to replace one of the 2 pound ABC dry chemical type with a 10 pound ABC with liquid suppressant.  After some research, the answer seems to be type AFFF. This week I ordered a type AFFF 10 pound one online for $139.   Then the vendor warned me that they ship empty and I have to find a professional to fill them with fluid.  I cancelled the order.   

Does anyone know of a good dry chemical alternative?   It needs to be USCG approved.   I remember when I was a firefighter that we tried a chemical called "Cold Fire."  It was amazingly effective at fire suppression.  I hoped that by now there would be consumer products out based on that technology.