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Industrial
Shipboard Firefighting By Dave Cochran
Pic courtesy of Dave Cochran
THIS ARTICLE WILL DEAL only with firefighting efforts by firefighters other than those who are crew members of vessels. It is assumed the shipboard fire system is either inadequate, failed, or the fire became too involved for the crew to handle. ombating marine vessel fires is a challenging task that will include not only those involved with the actual combat, but others as well. Obviously it will depend upon where the emergency takes place, as to which entities may become involved. Fire fighters will be charged not only with the extinguishment efforts, but environmental issues as well. This is especially true with those vessels carrying petroleum products, but those that carry hazardous materials such as the materials involved with the petrochemical industry, and many other materials necessary for manufacturing of goods done in countries around the world. While it is true, and based upon the cargo, the size of the vessel, and the amount of involvement to the vessel, will say a lot about the amount of water to be used, the amount of fire fighting foam that might be required, if any, the number and size of support vessels needed to support the efforts to save the vessel, the cargo, and equally
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INTERNATIONAL FIRE FIGHTER
as important, the damage to the environment. To those persons who are not aware of the risks that are taken, it will seem to be a very simple task to make successful extinguishments and
eliminate the risks to the environment. When these vessels are tied up to docks in busy seaports, oftentimes the risks are far more hazardous and create more risk to those surrounding facilities and many times local residents who are subjected to smoke, fumes, and in some cases the danger of catastrophic explosions. On the high seas the risk is more to those involved in the combat
Pic courtesy of Dave Cochran www.iffmag.com
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