Smoke Detectors on Boats

Today, smoke alarms are required in all single- and multiple-occupancy dwellings, schools, hotels, motels, hospitals, dormitories, trains, planes, buses, mobile homes, and recreational vehicles, but they are not required aboard pleasure boats. All that is about to change, however.

A PLEASURE BOAT contains a number of unique fire problems not found in an average residence. A typical pleasure boat has a fuel source (diesel fuel or gasoline) plumbed to as many as two engines and a generator, a DC electrical system, an AC electrical system, and possibly propane and alcohol for cooking. All of which are subject to salt air and water as well as other various forms of corrosion.

Boats have their fair share of fires. The causes include electrical problems, unattended cooking, and misplacement of auxiliary heating devices. The fire origin vessels are occupied many times. Smoke alarms have performed well under these same circumstances in land based incidents for decades.

The NFPA Technical Committee on Motor Craft, responsible for NFPA 302, Fire Protection for Pleasure and Commercial Motor Craft, and NFPA membership recently approved a first-time requirement for smoke alarms aboard pleasure boats with sleeping quarters. This requirement is part of the 2004 edition of NFPA 302, scheduled to be issued by the NFPA Standards Council this month, and appears in a new Section 12.3 that reads: "Smoke Detection. All vessels 26 feet or more in length with accommodation spaces intended for sleeping shall be equipped with a single station smoke alarm that is listed to UL217 for recreational vehicles and is installed and maintained according to the device manufacturer's instructions."Representatives from National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), American Boat and Yacht Comv cil (ABYC), and Boat U.S., argued that smoke alarms aren't needed aboard pleasure boats and would unnecessarily increase production costs, and referenced the current lack of marine listed units. Supporters of the requirement cited the success of smoke alarms in other types of living spaces, the cost of a detector relative to the cost of a boat, the history of boat fires each year, and research funded by the U.S. Coast Guard showing the feasibility of using smoke alarms.

At the NFPA World Safety Conference and Exposition in Salt Lake City, the representative for the NMMA, made a motion at the Technical Committee Reports Session to reduce the Motor Craft Committee's action but that motion was defeated.

Numerous problems

Large marina fires can be traced to a boat fire that wasn't discovered in a timely fashion. In Deland, Florida, last summer, unattended cooking on an occupied pleasure boat caused injuries, the destruction of 30 other boats, serious damage to the marina, and a large environmental mess. Seattle, Washington, has had three major fires in occupied marinas in less than two years causing the destruction of over 60 boats and over $15 million worth of damage.

The fire load in a marina can easily be underestimated. An average-sized marina may represent one of the largest fire loads a small town may have. One 26foot (7.9-meter) speed boat weighs about 8,000 pounds (3,632 kilograms) and holds about 100 gallons (378 liters) of gasoline, while a 50-foot (15-meter) sport fishing boat weighs about 50,000 pounds (22 metric tons) and holds nearly 1,000 gallons (3,785 liters) of diesel fuel. And fiberglass is volatile and toxic when it burns.

To complicate matters, a boat on fire will often burn through its mooring lines and float free, or the marina residents will untie a burning boat to move it away from the dock in an effort to protect their property. And wind and currents present an exposure problem we don't see in a structural fire.

Accessibility is another problem. Marinas are often located away from main streets, at the end of long, narrow driveways, so apparatus responding after the first-arriving companies may find it difficult to reach the site. And most of the fire attack will be one-sided, accessible only from a small portion of the perimeter. Fireboats may provide some help, but they are not as mobile as standard fire apparatus, and they do not get into service as quickly.

To add to the problem, engine and ladder company operations at a marina may be unfamiliar to both firefighters and officers. Getting equipment down a narrow dock filled with fleeing marina residents, managing hand lines, and establishing a water supply present different challenges. Residents and firefighters have been known to fall into the water, and if climbing back onto a dock is difficult in the best of circumstances, climbing out of the water wearing turnout gear is impossible. Boats may be needed to effect a safe evacuation.

Obviously, strategy and tactics for fighting a marina fire will be different from those used to fight a land-based fire, and planning to fight a marina fire requires the answers to a number of pertinent questions. Are standpipes and other firefighting equipment available? Are drafting locations accessible, and is the water level adequate for drafting during all tide stages? Are other marina resources, such as small boats and dock carts, available to help move people and equipment? Which local, state, and federal agencies will be involved