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How to Put Out a Boat Fire Without Laying a Line

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Kiwi Ingenuity on Display

A PLEASURE BOAT ON Lake Lyndon in New Zealand  caught on fire Friday, but it was a long ways from the nearest fire station.

New Zealand Herald image

But just like Mighty Mouse coming to save the day, an unknown speedboat pilot showed up just in time to use his seamanship skills to douse the flames. Take a look at his technique, then plan the station drill for next Spring, if you have a boat in service.

 

Pick-up and back-in-service just takes seconds.

In a report on the fire, the New Zealand Herald tells:

Wellington man Hayden Oliver started filming when he spotted the boat burning fiercely in the water on Canterbury's Lake Lyndon on Friday afternoon.

As he filmed, a speedboat that had been at the other side of the lake approached at speed and turned sharply at the last moment, sluicing water over the fire. It repeated this at least four times.

"It was definitely a brave idea. There's two sides to it really: it was dangerous but it was brave at the same time," Oliver said. He had spoken to the boat's owner who said the fire started as he revved the motor and it was probably caused by an electrical fault. "The guy just jumped ship," he said. Oliver didn't know who the two people in the speedboat were, he said, "just good sorts in a boat".

Dave Black, the deputy harbour master for lakes Wanaka, Wakatipu and Hawea, said he had adopted the same tactic when a boat caught fire on Lake Wakatipu seven or eight years ago.

"We turned the boat one way and squirted water on to the fire quite easily, and we did have a fire crew on board as well," he said. "I wouldn't call it a legitimate tactic but if it puts the fire out, then so be it. As long as everyone gets out safe I don't have a problem with it."

Read the full story HERE.

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Posted by on December 30, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Fire Destroys “Adventure” Boat in Seattle

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Loss Expected to be "In the Millions"

A 4-DECK, SPECIALTY CRUISE BOAT CAUGHT FIRE at the Fisherman's Terminal dock in Seattle, Washington, Friday morning and was completely destroyed with not much more than the aluminum hull left.

KIRO-TV

The Safari Spirit is one of American Safari Cruise's seven vessels and was being prepared for the upcoming Alaska cruise season.  The Seattle Times reported:

Company owner Dan Blanchard was sleeping on board and was awakened at about 1 a.m. by popping noises. He called the fire department and got off the boat along with the engineer, Jacox said.

The 105-foot yacht was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, said Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore. They made sure no one else was on board, then had to pull back because of the heat.

Firefighters poured water into the yacht from two hoses on the dock and from a fire boat. There was so much water in the yacht it began to list. Firefighters had to pump out water so they could continue to fight the fire, Moore said.

The Safari Spirit has an aluminum hull and did not sink, but with accommodations for 12 passengers there was plenty of fuel for a stubborn fire.

KIRO-TV

The Seattle police harbor patrol boat moved about six other craft that were moored close by away from the immediate area.

NWCN included some fire footage in this good video report from the scene:

 

KIRO-TV has more details and 3 additional videos HERE.
Read the full story from the Seattle Times HERE.

Hat tip:  Mark D.

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Posted by on April 28, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

2-Alarm Marina Fire Destroys 20 Boats, Kills 2 Less Than a Year After City Saves Money by Getting Rid of Their Only Fireboat

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Husband and Wife Believed to Have Perished on Their Houseboat

A 2-ALARM BLAZE AT A BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON, MARINA Friday morning has destroyed up to 20 boats along with a number of boathouses.  Two people are still missing and feared dead when they were apparently trapped on their 42-ft. recreational trawler.

Bellingham Herald

The fire began around 5:30 am at a boat dock that extended several hundred feet into the harbor with many of the boats carrying fuel that caused a series of explosions as the fire moved along the dock.  The FD was hampered in their firefighting efforts by a lack of access to the fire, having to attempt reaching the blaze with handlines from other docks.  The Bellingham Herald reports:

The boats were docked beneath individual metallic boathouses, each about a foot apart, (Assistant Fire Chief) Christensen said. Flames destroyed the entire line of shelters, with the boats inside, before firefighters could extinguish the blaze. Port officials weren’t sure exactly how many boats were housed there Friday morning.

Typical boathouse/dock construction at the
Bellingham Marina.  (KING-TV)

The city decommissioned an old fire boat, Fire Belle, last year and didn’t replace it because of the cost. "We were unsuccessful in securing funds to replace it," Christensen said. "We could have used it today." Crews were only able to get to the fire from nearby docks. G Dock East is among the farthest from shore, about a quarter-mile out near a breakwater.

"When you fight fire, you want to be able to fight it from multiple sides," Christensen said. "(A fire boat) is the perfect tool."

Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Boyd was reluctant to get rid of the boat, but said at the time that it was necessary to do so to provide other basic fire and emergency-medical services. Keeping the boat cost the city about $30,000 a year.

KING-TV

Investigators are studying candid photos and videos in an attempt to determine the point of origin of the fire.  The blaze was knocked down and largely extinguished in two hours, but several areas and pilings continued to smoulder  throughout the day.

KING-TV posted this video report:

 

Read the entire article in the Bellingham Herald HERE.

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Posted by on March 31, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Videos • Tagged: , ,

A New Extinguishing Tool

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INGENUITY BREEDS INVENTIVENESS AND A young man in Newport News, Virginia who is not even a firefighter, rapidly developed a successful fire extinguisher.   Adrian Kotschevar was taking a break from his job as a cook in a crabhouse restaurant and sitting on the dock at 3:30 pm Thursday, when he heard a loud “boom.”  Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a boat on fire about 500 ft. offshore.

WTKR-TV image

Immediately he had an idea.  Kotschevar told NewsChannel 3 that he kicked off his flip-flops, took off his shirt and jumped on his jet ski.  “Runnin’ down to the pier I was thinking ‘I can put it out,’ The only thing I could figure was take it and swamp it. So I was just kept heading back out and heading back out. The faster I got, the more water just hit it. I ended up putting it out by the time the fire department got there.”

He explains how he did it in this video interview for WTKR-TV:
 

Two men on board the 22-ft. cruiser suffered burns with one of them requiring transport.  They jumped into the water immediately and were pulled out by another boat that came to their aid.  The Newport News boat that responded  mopped up the largely-extinguished fire and towed it back to shore.

Posted by on June 18, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Fire-ology, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Marina Fire in Norfolk

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NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, FIREFIGHTERS HAD A HOT RESCUE CHALLENGE Wednesday morning when a fire  started spreading through boats moored at a marina.  When they arrived at the Vinings Landing Marina around 1 am they found several boats ablaze along with some flaming fuel floating on the water along with a report that two people were trapped on their cruiser on the other side of the blaze.

marina a WAVY

WAVY-TV

Complicating the operation was the fact that it was a floating dock, constantly in motion as they made their way past the fire to get to the victims who were rescued and evacuated safely.

The Coast Guard says that the fire started on a 45-foot sailing vessel and spread to the pleasure craft tied up at the dock.  Three boats were completely destroyed and at least three more damaged from the fire.  Many of the boats were saved because the firefighters quickly cut their moorings and set them adrift.  The floating dock was also heavily damaged.

WAVY-TV Ch. 10 has some dramatic video taken at the fire scene (click on the Full Screen button):

The cause of the fire is still being investigated and the amount of damages hasn’t been calculated yet.

WVEC-TV has more plus another video HERE.

Posted by on April 28, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

More Boat Fires

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SINCE BOAT FIRES IS STARTING TO BE A THEME this week (HERE), Firegeezer reader Ryan sent us this photo taken Saturday off the coast of North Carolina.

[photopress:outerboat_a_1.jpg,full,centered]

The 43-foot sport fishing boat Reel Nauti caught fire Saturday afternoon with two people on board. Luckily for them, a Coast Guard rescue boat was not far away and spotted the smoke. A press release from the U. S. Coast Guard relates what happened:

A Coast Guard rescue boat crew saved two people from a burning boat Saturday afternoon in the Roanoke Channel near Wanchese, N.C.

A Coast Guard Station Oregon Inlet 21-foot boat crew was familiarizing a new crewmember with the area when they saw smoke and arrived at the scene of a burning 43-foot sport fishing boat within one minute. Two people were pulled to safety before their boat was consumed with fire.

A 47-foot rescue boat crew also responded to the vessel fire to keep other vessels at a safe distance.

“All of us on board felt fortunate that we were in the vicinity of the vessel because of how quickly the fire spread across the deck,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam M. Fredrickson, coxswain of the 21-foot rescue boat.

They don’t tell us whether the fishermen had gone overboard before the Coast Guard boat arrived, or why not if they hadn’t. The boat burned down to the gunwhales and sank leaving about 3 ft. of the superstructure above the waterline. It will be removed as soon as weather permits. But in any event, it was beyond the reach of any hose lines.

[photopress:outerboat_d_1.jpg,full,centered]
USCG photo

Posted by on December 11, 2008 • Filed under: fire • Tagged: ,