A shipboard fire is another nightmare for seamen. Unfortunately there is no fire department to call upon and you cannot evacuate the crew. This means that the crew themselves have to combat the fire and put it out. This means that the entire ship’s company, irrespective of whether he is a cook or a seaman, has to be trained to fight fires. As in the case of man-overboard, the fire drills must be practised on a regular basis. All crew members when they join their ship should acquaint themselves with the types of fire fighting equipment carried and their whereabouts.

The nature of a fire.
For any fire to exist, three elements are required, namely fuel, oxygen and heat. This is known as the fire triangle, each side representing an element. By taking one element away the fire will cease to exist. This is the basic philosophy of fire fighting.

Types of fire.
What types of fire can we expect at sea? There are three basic types or forms of fire at sea:

• Solid fuel fires, ie dry cargo, furniture and fittings, flammable panels . This includes anything made of wood, plastic or other solid materials.
• Oil or fluid fuel fires, ie fuel used in the engine, lubricating oil, oil cargo, petrol (for small craft) cooking oil used in the galley.
• Electrical fires, ie electric motors burning, shorts in wiring and switchboards, fire in radios, radar equipment and other electrical appliances.

Means to combat fires.
What do we have to combat fires?
The basic materials available are water, foam, dry powder and carbon dioxide.

Besides the fire main fitted in a vessel which supplies sea water under pressure with which to fight fires there are also a range of fire extinguishers fitted throughout the vessel. These are considered first aid appliances which are used to fight small fires when detected. In days gone by they were colour coded to distinguish between the various types, ie foam extinguishers were painted cream, water extinguishers red, dry powder extinguishers light blue and carbon dioxide (CO2) black. These days most are painted red with a colour coded band near the top and fitted with either a short nozzle, hose or insulated hand held cone nozzle. The following pictures are examples of these extinguishers:

Examples of fire extinguishers.

• Solid fuel fires. Water is mainly used for solid fuel fires, but any of the others can also be used.
• Oil/liquid fuel fires. Foam, dry powder and carbon dioxide are used. Water in the form of a very fine spray or steam can also be used. A jet of water will only cause the fire to spread.
• Electrical fires. Dry powder or carbon dioxide can be used. Under no circumstances must water or foam be used because of the fact that water conducts electricity and the fire fighters could be electrocuted.

Water is used because of the cooling effect on a fire. Water is also used for boundary cooling to prevent the fire from spreading. In the form of steam it takes away the oxygen.
Foam also has a cooling effect because of the water content but its main property is to smother the fire.
Dry powder’s strength lies in its smothering effect as does carbon dioxide.

Because of the large area and the fact that most power is generated in the engine room as well as the site of the ship’s pumps for the fire main, it is important to put a fire out as quickly as possible in the engine room. To this end all vessels have what is called a “one-shot” system. A large number of cylinders containing carbon dioxide are fitted in an adjacent compartment to the engine room. These are interconnected and their outlet nozzles are situated throughout the engine room. If a fire occurs, the entire contents of these cylinders is released into the engine room and hopefully smothers any flames.

Fire aboard ships is a very serious threat and can have dire consequences for the crew. It is therefore vitally important for the crew to be vigilant at all times, remember prevention is always better than the cure.