Fire
When fighting fires:
• Activate Fireboy System if there is a fire in the engine room.
• If possible, throw burning materials over the side.
• Never use water, or water-type extinguishers on gasoline, oil, grease, or electrical fire. Water
spreads the flames and acts as a conductor for electricity.
• Pull the safety pin and aim the fire extinguisher at the base of the flames. Squeeze the handle
and use a left-to-right sweeping motion to extinguish the flames.
• Signal for help using an appropriate signaling device.
• If required, abandon ship, but only as a last resort.
To help reduce the possibilit
of fire, store flammable
materials in an approved shipboard storage container.
Classes of Fires
In the United States there are four classes of fire of which you should be familiar with. They are:
• Class A – Wood, paper, textiles, trash, and other ordinary combustibles
• Class B – Flammable liquids, oils, solvents, paints, grease, fuels, etc.
• Class C – Electrical, energized electrical equipment
• Class D – Combustible metals (magnesium, titanium, potassium, etc.)
Dry Powder type extinguishers are used on Class D (combustible metals) type fires.
This type of fire is rare on a boat of this type and therefore not discussed.
Compliant Fire Extinguishers
Fire fighting extinguishers have been developed to combat the various classes of fires.
These are:
• Water
• Carbon Dioxide
• Multipurpose Dry Chemical
• Foam
Some extinguishers are classified as multipurpose, meaning they can be used on more than one type of
fire. For this reason you should equip the vessel with at least two different types of fire extinguishers,
one for general purpose (such as Carbon Dioxide) and another for fuel (such as Multipurpose Dry
Chemical or Foam). Table 2-7 indicates which type of extinguisher works best for which class of fire.
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Safety And Operations
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