WIREDGOV

Got a Boat? Stay Afloat - Get a Smoke Alarm

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT News Release (124) issued by COI News Distribution Service on 25 May 2009

FIRE SERVICES OFFERING FREE BOAT RISK CHECKS

If your home is a boat, you should get a smoke alarm, is the message from the Fire Minister Sadiq Khan supporting the Boat Safety Scheme.

During Boat Safety Week, 25 - 31 May, Fire and Rescue Services are offering free fire safety checks to boat owners, and urging the boaters to be more fire safe on board.

Although boat fires on our coastal and inland waters are less common than fires on land, when they do occur they can be devastating to all involved, totally destroying the boat and putting lives at risk. Boats are often in remote locations which may result in firefighters taking longer to arrive.

Fire Minister Sadiq Khan said:

"A fire on a boat can be as devastating as a house fire and puts lives at risk. It makes sense for boats with sleeping accommodation to be fitted with smoke alarms. A smoke alarm gives you the vital time to awake from sleep and escape the fire on a boat, just as they do in house fires.

"With over 450,000 motorised boats on rivers, canals, lakes and the coast around the UK, I am urging all boat owners to take simple steps to reduce the risk of fire on their boats and ensure that they have the correct fire safety equipment on board. The Boat Safety Scheme provides valuable advice."

Boat Fire Risk Checks, available throughout England, offer boaters the opportunity to gain invaluable help and advice from their local Fire and Rescue Service about how to identify potential problems before a fire starts, and what to do should a fire break out.

Ten top tips for boat fire safety from the Fire and Rescue Service are:
1. Fit a suitable smoke alarm

2. Make a fire action plan including: planning escape route, calling the fire service, turning off fuel and know when to leave the boat and know how to deal with a fire if you can't get off immediately

3. Take extreme care when refuelling with petrol or changing gas cylinders

4. Avoid using portable gas equipment onboard, where possible, and store all gas canisters in special gas lockers or open places where any leaks will flow overboard

5. Check battery cables and fuse box connections routinely for damage including signs of overheating

6. Take care when doing repairs - don't bodge the job

7. Keep interiors well ventilated if you're using adhesives, paints and spirit based products

8. Always keep your eye on a solid fuel stove when it's lit, try to avoid leaving the boat with the stove running

9. Do not leave cooking food or candles unattended

10. Take care with cigarettes, matches and pipe tobacco, ensuring that they are fully extinguished - Put it out, right out

For boats, optical sensor smoke alarms with hush buttons and sealed for life batteries are recommended, and choose those with a British Standard 'Kitemark' or a LPCB 'Horseshoe' mark. Smoke alarms should be tested regularly - Push the button, not your luck.

For further information about boating fire safety, please contact the Boat Safety Scheme on 01923 201278 or visit the fire advice for boaters at http://www.boatsafetyscheme.com/fire

Notes to Editors
1. For more information on fire safety please visit http://www.direct.gov.uk/firekills or speak to the Fire and Rescue Service local to your boat.

2. For further information on the Boat Safety Scheme please contact Rob McLean, Communications Manager, Tel 01923 201353 or email robert.m@boatsafetyscheme.com.

3. The Boat Safety Scheme's role is to minimise the risks of fires or explosions on boats cruising the UK's inland waterways network, by specifying a set of requirements that most boats must meet before they can be granted a navigation licence.

4. The Scheme also recommends a number of 'safety best practice' measures which enhance the personal health and safety of those on board privately owned boats. By working in partnership with the Fire Kills campaign, the Boat Safety Scheme is able to raise awareness of fire safety issues affecting the boating community. By providing the necessary information and advice, its aim is to ensure that the boating community are as fire safe as possible.

Examples of boat fire incidents

Tidying up duvets causes boat fire
A duvet was stuffed into a wardrobe, which didn't allow the door to close properly. A light in the wardrobe stayed on and could not be seen due to the duvet stuffed up against it. The light overheated, setting fire to the duvet. The owners didn't notice the smoke initially as they did not have a smoke alarm, but when they did smell smoke, it took a while to find where the smell was coming from. Eventually the skipper opened the wardrobe to find the duvet alight.

DIY explosions
The owner of a catamaran moored in a harbour was renewing the headlining of the vessel and using a strong glue to stick it in place. Enough glue was used whereby there was sufficient vapour given off to form a flammable mix, which exploded once it came into contact with a source of ignition - in this case the pilot light of the fridge.

A man was varnishing wood on his vessel during one of the colder months of the year. As the varnish was not drying quickly enough he plugged in an electric heater to try to warm up the cabin space to get the varnish to 'go off' more quickly. He left the boat with the heater running to have lunch out of sight of the boat, and was told by a passer-by that there was a boat on fire at the marina.

Even inland, boat fires can be hard to reach
Firefighters were forced to flag down a passing narrowboat to reach the scene of an explosion which injured a man on a remote section of canal. The man suffered serious burns when a fireball shot through a boat. The windows were blown out but luckily the boat itself did not catch fire. Petrol had leaked from a generator's fuel system which was on top of the boards over the boat's engine bay.

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