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Post by phil70 on Aug 20, 2017 13:41:05 GMT
About 9-00am I heard these words and looked out of my front doors to see smoke pouring from my stern. Somebody walked past and said "Jay's boat is on fire" and just kept walking.
I grabbed a couple of extinguishers and ran to find my mate trying to put out a fire in his rear cockpit of his Norman.
I emptied my two extinguishers and stepped on my stern where Chris handed me two more extinguishers and back I went into the fray. This time I got the flames out but they reignited as soon as the extinguisher moved away so I had to quickly get some water on to cool it down.
A hose appeared but typical of here, there was no pressure so we continued to damp down with river water.
So now the whole back if the rear canopy had gone and the rear cockpit is a mess of powder, smoke and water but Jay is alive and only real loss was his artwork which can be replaced
We don't know what caused the fire but I do know how surprised I was at the ferocity at which the PVC canopy burnt and equally surprised at how useless 1kg and 2kg powder extinguishers are .
All concerned this morning are having a serious rethink about our fire fighting kit
Phul
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Post by phil70 on Aug 20, 2017 13:43:23 GMT
About 9-00am I heard these words and looked out of my front doors to see smoke pouring from my stern. Somebody walked past and said "Jay's boat is on fire" and just kept walking. I grabbed a couple of extinguishers and ran to find my mate trying to put out a fire in his rear cockpit of his Norman. I emptied my two extinguishers and stepped on my stern where Chris handed me two more extinguishers and back I went into the fray. This time I got the flames out but they reignited as soon as the extinguisher moved away so I had to quickly get some water on to cool it down. A hose appeared but typical of here, there was no pressure so we continued to damp down with river water. So now the whole back if the rear canopy had gone and the rear cockpit is a mess of powder, smoke and water but Jay is alive and only real loss was his artwork which can be replaced We don't know what caused the fire but I do know how surprised I was at the ferocity at which the PVC canopy burnt and equally surprised at how useless 1kg and 2kg powder extinguishers are . All concerned this morning are having a serious rethink about our fire fighting kit Phil |
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Post by Stumpy on Aug 20, 2017 14:00:45 GMT
A sterling effort Phil....Well done.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2017 16:07:38 GMT
Don't panic!
Well done that man. Cool head in a crisis is what's needed.
Rog
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2017 16:17:11 GMT
Bloody hell! Glad your all ok. Scary.
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Post by JohnV on Aug 20, 2017 16:26:41 GMT
A very good job jobbed Phil. ...... best of all no-one hurt. ...... have a gold star !!! 🌟
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Post by bettina on Aug 20, 2017 19:31:07 GMT
About 9-00am I heard these words and looked out of my front doors to see smoke pouring from my stern. Somebody walked past and said "Jay's boat is on fire" and just kept walking. I grabbed a couple of extinguishers and ran to find my mate trying to put out a fire in his rear cockpit of his Norman. All concerned this morning are having a serious rethink about our fire fighting kit Phul  Wow Plil - how scary Sounds like you level-headed and calm actions saved not only the day but, Jay's boat as well. Tell Jay that sould be worth at least a dozen custard cream doughnuts  on a serious note - well done you! |
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Post by peterboat on Aug 21, 2017 8:41:05 GMT
Well done Flappy and you are right, these small extinguishers are next to useless!! I suspect they are only made to get us out of the fire and not really put it out. Having seen the mess dry powder makes I think I would prefer the insurance pay out rather than clean up the boat................................
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Post by lollygagger on Aug 21, 2017 8:58:34 GMT
At a sort of club camping weekend once a fireman who was one of "us" demonstrated then let us loose of small extinguishers and a petrol fire. As above there's bugger all in them so the theory was one fair squirt to knock the flames back for a better view of the seat(s) of the fire then very short (half second?) squirts. If you squirt continuously they are useless, but using short quirts they are just next to useless.
After that experience I have my son trained up to abandon ship and not bother even reaching for the extinguisher unless the fire is between him and the door.
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Post by lollygagger on Aug 21, 2017 9:01:29 GMT
IIRC powdwer extinguishers settle and old powder ones that have sat in place for years don't expel much of the contents.
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Post by quaysider on Aug 21, 2017 17:10:36 GMT
I bought a couple of these in www.firetool.co.uk/index.html# addition to the "required ones for the BSS" - They are readily available and will be our first port of call in the event of an onboard fire. |
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Post by larkboy on Aug 21, 2017 18:21:08 GMT
Blimey, just seen this..... Neither I nor Debbie had heard or seen owt, although we were busy in our boat varnishing all day yesterday. Well done for helping him out Phil and Chris, and so glad Jay is ok.
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Post by patty on Aug 21, 2017 20:30:03 GMT
What a scary situation...I'm glad no one hurt...you did absolutely brilliantly
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Post by JohnV on Aug 22, 2017 9:19:57 GMT
after experiencing the poor performance of powder extinguishers in a minor fire a few years back, I aquired a couple of 6 litre AFFF extinguishers (foam)
In the engine room there is a CO2 extinguisher and an AFFF and the same in the saloon
of my remaining dry powder ones.
one is in the wheelhouse and the other in the forward cabin.
I intend to get a couple of new AFFF's soon for those areas
6ltr AFFF's can be bought fairly readily for under £30 and I much prefer them to dry powder (all are messy except for CO2 but that has drawbacks of it's own but is handy for electrical)
I have no idea how this stands with BSS ...... but fortunately I don't have to comply with their ideas.
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Post by markhez on Aug 22, 2017 10:24:32 GMT
I bought a couple of these in www.firetool.co.uk/index.html# addition to the "required ones for the BSS" - They are readily available and will be our first port of call in the event of an onboard fire. They look a handy thing, may have to invest in a few! My fire fighting kit is 2x2kg powder in mounted bedroom, 2x2kg powder mounted in cockpit, 2x2kg powder mounted in lounge. Engine bay has an auto extinguisher (CO2). Next to the main door is a Large water, a 3ltr foam and a 5kg CO2, as well as a 10 minute air fed breathing mask/hood. Having come home to find my neighbours boat on fire and finding out just how hard it is to extinguish an established fire in a smoke filled boat I upped my kit a bit!! |
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Wow Plil - how scary
