Safety and Operations
Chris-Craft 2–35
Fire
When fighting fires:
• 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 possibility 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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