Have you done any fire fighting?

[Searush]

Blue dragon I think it was asked on teh Lidl Extinguisher thread if any one had experience of fighting fire on a boat & thought it might make a decent thread - so here is that thread!

I've not fought a fire in a boat, but I did put out an oven fire in a clubhouse once, using a Dry Powder unit. It certainly dealt with the fire quite quickly, but the white powder was EVERYWHERE! I was glad I wasn't required to clean it up afterwards.

 

[Leighb]

I let off a dry powder estinguisher at school a long time ago, terrible mess - which I did not have to clear up - never owned up to that one.

 

[sarabande]

yes, I set fire to a spirit stove while trying to light it. Like Searush, I used a dry powder extinguisher (a controllable one, not one of the all-in-one-go types) and stopped the fire.

The mess was extensive and took nearly a day to clear up.

I would not use any such extinguisher again, but prefer a boat with CO2.

 

[Nauti Fox]

Yes.

I'm the one with the "devil may care attitude" to hat wearing...or someone had put an egg in it, I'll leave you to decide.
3rd from left rear row.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I've never used a fire-extinguisher in anger, but I have used them on a course for fire marshals where I work. The most effective was the kind that sprays a water mist over the flame - it both smothers the flame and cools it, and is OK on electrical fires because it doesn't conduct back to the user - the mist is non-conductive. I recall that dry powder extinguishers were a bit "chocolate teapot", except on electrical fires. However, it was a long time ago, and my memory is probably faulty!

 

[Nigel_Ward]

I put out a car fire with a dry powder extinguisher.

The battery exploded on the car next to mine on a camp site (he had a light cable attached to the battery). Shortly after the bang there were flames licking up the windscreen. Got my wife to move our car then put my small 0.6kg extinguisher down the slot between bonnet and screen (it had melted the plastic valance) and set it off. Put the fire out but powder everywhere. Owner returned wondering what all the fuss was about (but he did replace my extinguisher which was out of date!). Explosion had blown half the battery off.

I was also on a 60ft fishing boat which had an electrical fire in the engine room off Northern Ireland. Crew eventually put it out with dry powder but a mess everywhere. It just shows how important the firefighting, first aid and sea survival courses are! When you are miles from land you have to sort things yourself.

 

[aquaplane]

We used to have fire training every year but it's stopped now.

I have had a go with all the different extinguishers over the years but all outside in a fairly controlled situation.

Dry powder is good at knocking down a fire. It is messy but not as messy as your boat burning to the waterline. It's a good all purpose extinguisher.

Water is too if you only have 12v electrickery, not so good on burning liquids though, back to powder for that.

 

[pagoda]

I put out a car fire with a dry powder extinguisher.

The battery exploded on the car next to mine on a camp site (he had a light cable attached to the battery). Shortly after the bang there were flames licking up the windscreen. Got my wife to move our car then put my small 0.6kg extinguisher down the slot between bonnet and screen (it had melted the plastic valance) and set it off. Put the fire out but powder everywhere. Owner returned wondering what all the fuss was about (but he did replace my extinguisher which was out of date!). Explosion had blown half the battery off.

I was also on a 60ft fishing boat which had an electrical fire in the engine room off Northern Ireland. Crew eventually put it out with dry powder but a mess everywhere. It just shows how important the firefighting, first aid and sea survival courses are! When you are miles from land you have to sort things yourself.

Having done numerous fire fighting (offshore survival) courses over the years AND once extinguished a car engine fire...

You can put fires out by cooling the burning material/ removing it's source of oxygen /and finally chemically suppressing the combustion process

Water - unless you immerse the object only cools the material below combustion temperature - albeit effectively for paper / wood , some fabrics (NOT ELECTRICS)

Smothering - with aqueous foam =cools and smothers/ fire blanket / co2 deprive the burning material; of O2. CO2 does some cooling and displaces a lot of the air -in a confined space. Stuff can re-ignite with CO2 sometimes as it is still hot enough .
Aqueous foam for hydrocarbon (oil/petrol) fires - very effective.

Both Dry Powder and halons chemically interfere in the combustion process. Both are nasty to inhale. Dry powder works pretty effectively but is admittedly messy.

CO2 and halons (installed as permanent systems) are good for engine compartments- small volumes that can be flooded with fire suppressing gas quickly. Neither work very well out of doors. Powder can work outside if you can get upwind & fairly close

I've often thought basic fire-fighting and survival techniques should be taught at school in senior years. It could save a few lives I reckon.

I have 4 dry powder bottles & a fire blanket. I hope never to need them, but realise the mess level I'll create if I use the dry powder. A small price for stopping a fire quickly mind you.

Graeme

 

[AndrewF]

Once used a 50 kg dry power extinguisher on a fire on an oil tanker. Was spectacular, efficient but rather messy. My favourite for engineroom fires has to be the water mist.

 

[ancientsailor]

Did a one week MN course with Bootle Fire Brigade a long time ago (lots of practicals!). Fine water mists very effective in right conditions as are fireblankets.

Car fire - used several dry-powder extinguishers which were completely ineffective. Stood back and watched it explode. Got to it too late - it was well alight.

Boat fire, small scale. Entirely own fault, spilt the burning pre-ignition meths from a Taylor's paraffin heater (absolutely no problem with the heater).

Me: "I think we have a problem"

Wife: (standing at galley sink) "Aggh!". Half throws wet tea towel at flames in attempt to smother.

Reach for dry powder - one sec burst, flames out. 2 days to get all the powder cleaned up.


I really do think had my wife been more accurate we could have saved a lot of cleaning as well as an extinguisher recharge

 

[Martin_J]

I'm in a bit of a rush so a short reply here.. but I was surprised when we went on the Firefighting course in Warsash that the powders stops the burning but does not then prevent re-ignition.

An example was a glass plate covered with burning fuel... The dry powder put it out and covered the fuel with a layer of powder. What was amazing though was that holding a new flame above the powder relit the fuel and the vapour just burnt above the pile of powder. Weird to watch.

 

[DownWest]

Put out 3 aircraft minor fires with powder from controlled extingishers, but they did not work after the first use as they lost pressure, so fresh one each time. Put out a major aircraft fire with CO2. One out of three new units did not work, this nearly cost us 22 a/craft.
Car caught fire from careless welding torch. New powder unit dribbled from spout, 'swift action' (panic) saved it with water.
A Which bit on car stuff said 'If the tyres have caught, forget it, nothing will save it'
A

 

[penfold]

Once used a 50 kg dry power extinguisher on a fire on an oil tanker. Was spectacular, efficient but rather messy. My favourite for engineroom fires has to be the water mist.

You do a lot of firefighting training and drill in the merchant navy, so I know what to do but have never done any in anger. I concur with the Hyfog water mist systems, they are so effective they should be a compulsory fit for engine rooms, and arguably everywhere else too.

 

[robertj]

How old

Yes.

I'm the one with the "devil may care attitude" to hat wearing...or someone had put an egg in it, I'll leave you to decide.
3rd from left rear row.

oh my god how long ago was that? Who caught the horses first?

 

[robertj]

Mess

Nearly all the posted replys here seem to focus on the mess from dry powder, don't worry about the mess!
Hit the fire quickly and put it out as soon as you can otherwise it quickly gets a hold and you lose your boat and if your off shore then it's into the life raft if u have one or I nice swim.
Buckets of water if ur extinguisher empties will also help but be careful of the thick acrid smoke this will get you sooner than you realise.
If it's cooking related frying etc the the blanket is your best bet but roll your hands up to protect them thenplace it over the effected pan.

 

[BlueLancer]

Not put out any fires but did use the powder refill from large foam extinguisher in the fountains in Hanover walk platz in the early 70's.A large dollop of powder in 6 fountains. The effect was very pleasing, acres of foam everywhere, well I liked it, local police were not so impressed so I heard, I didn't hang around to find out.

 

[capnsensible]

Put out a fire on an outboard engine a couple of months ago. Was in Cadiz, engine was one of 3 on a Guardia Civil rib. They were a bit clueless, so gave them one of our powder extinguishers, then helped them with that plus a lot of water supplied by bucket, with lanyard.

Spent many uncomfortable hours in a previous life getting sweaty in numerous excercises in several roles of the fire and attack parties of submarines (various). Very, very sweaty.

 

[30boat]

Once set fire to the dry grass at the back of the house when grinding metal.Trying to put it out with a bucket of water(the hose didn't reach)I got a third degree burn on my arm that now looks like a chinese character.Cool or what?

 

[Starfishbooks]

I did my fire training in the merchant navy as a cadet many years ago.

For the technically minded you need to consider the fire triangle - you need heat, oxygen, and fuel. This equals fire. Take away any one of these and no fire. The easiest one to remove is oxygen, this is what all the gas (halon, co2 etc.) and dry powder extinguishers do. But - you still have heat and fuel, so as soon as air can get back in you get a re-ignition.

Remove two and you kill the fire completely.

This is why the water mist systems work so well - they cool and the production of steam during the cooling process displaces the oxygen.

The best extinguisher on a boat - one of those pump up garden sprayers. You use the fine spray and get cooling as well as steam. Very effective and refillable as often as you need. A frightened man can fill and pump up one of these in no time.

A word of warning on dry powder extinguishers - these tend to 'cake' over time. This happens quicker with vibration - e.g. the motion of a boat and/or the vibration from running you engine. All that will happen is the propellant gas will come out, leaving the powder caked in the extinguisher. To avoid this give your dry powder extinguisher(s) a good vigorous shaking as often as you like.

 

[penfold]

Spent many uncomfortable hours in a previous life getting sweaty in numerous excercises in several roles of the fire and attack parties of submarines (various). Very, very sweaty.

Those Fearnaught suits are a bit warm aren't they?

Once set fire to the dry grass at the back of the house when grinding metal.Trying to put it out with a bucket of water(the hose didn't reach)I got a third degree burn on my arm that now looks like a chinese character.Cool or what?

1st degree and not 3rd degree I hope! That's now called Full Depth burn these days and is identifiable by the charred or waxy white appearance, this is as serious as burns get and you would have spent a long stay in Hospital with it. 1st degree = superficial and 2nd degree = partial depth.