DIRECT ATTACK ON CABIN FIRES IN SMALL COMMERCIAL VESSELS, PART 2
Part 1 appeared in the November 1993 issue.
ACCESS TO THE FIRE
Approaching a fire on a lower deck through the engine room is easier and less punishing for firefighters. The engine room, typically located below cabin areas, usually is approached by crew members through a stairway from the lowest deck of the crew accommodations. Some ships have an access hatch, escape trunk, or outside entrance leading directly to the engine room from a weather deck. Some cargo ships have an outside hatch on the fan tail that accesses the steering gear. The steering flat may have a doorway leading to the generator catwalk of the engine room. Accessing the engine room from the outside will enable firefighters to bypass the stairway leading to the lower accommodations and avoid most of the convected heat and smoke.
If firefighters can reach the engine room, they then can ascend to the fire by way of the stair and fire door leading to the accommodations, thus making their approach below the barrier of rising heat.
Trapped victims or injured firefighters could be dragged down the stairs from cabin areas into the refuge of the engine casing. Entry through the engine room, however, is not always possible. Some ships have no access points from the outside. Small vessels tend to have small openings. A climb down a hatch may be too tight a squeeze for a firefighter equipped with SCBA.
High-expansion foam can be a viable altemative to a direct attack with hoselines. However, efforts to fill lower decks with “hi-ex” can be thwarted by high heat levels, lack of ventilation (to exhaust the air displaced by foam), and compartmentation of living areas.
CONFINING THE FIRE
Gathering information and getting personnel and equipment in position to begin a direct attack on the fire take time. The following immediate measures, however, can be taken to slow the fire’s growth:
- Secure ventilation to the space on fire by shutting off fans and closing dampers and louvers in ductwork. In older vessels, dampers and louvers may be missing or inoperable due to the effects of the salt air. If possible, you can improvise—albeit difficult—by covering or stuffing the vent openings with wet canvas salvage covers or wet mattresses.
- Close all openings to the space, which will reduce the fire’s intensity and tempo-
- rarily confine the fire. A fire burning in a lower compartment of a ship has the potential to spread by conduction in six directions: to the deck above, the deck below, and the compartments on each side of the fire.
- Establish a boundary surrounding the fire and maintain it by cooling exposed decks and bulkheads.
- Inasmuch as resources usually are scarce during the initial stages of the incident, first cool the deck immediately above the fire. Quickly locate containers of flammable liquids and pressurized gases and cool or remove them from the hot deck above the fire. Remember also that every ship will have at least one set of oxygen and acetylene cylinders. Manyolder freighters use two or more 100-lb. cylinders of LP gas for cooking, which warrant immediate attention if they are standing on the deck above the fire.
Although the reliability of a ship’s firemain system may be in doubt, this is one time that its speed of deployment outweighs any disadvantages. Quickly deploy hose from the ship’s fire main to begin cooling flammables before fire department hoselines can be brought on board. Hot surfaces are tough on hoselines. Modern lightweight fire hose constructed with synthetic fibers can melt and fail when it lies on a hot deck.
- Disconnect electricity to the space. Crew members and firefighters are cautioned, however, not to arbitrarily cut off all circuits, which will knock out vital systems. Maintaining power to unaffected circuits will allow the use of fire and bilge pumps, lighting, and ventilation fans. Electrie power will allow the use of deckmounted cranes to move a cargo, lift hatch covers, and bring fire equipment on board.
RESCUE VS. FIRE CONTROL
As a practical matter, firefighting aboard a small vessel cannot be delayed or compromised for the sake of search and rescue. The construction and configuration of cabin areas generally require that thex fire be controlled before search crews can be dispatched to lower decks. Living areas below deck are too small for a hoseline_ crew and a search team to move about. It is difficult, if not impossible, for two firefighters with SCBA tanks on their backs to pass each other in the cramped cabins and narrow passageways of a typical crew accommodation. More than a minimum of firefighters working below at any one timequickly will reach the point of diminishing returns as they become jammed up in narrow passageways.
A consequence of having a steel structure and wood interior is that a fire rapidly will spread to adjoining spaces. Firstarriving companies will have all they can do to stretch the hoselines necessary to, cover the boundaries surrounding the fire. Rescue is always our first priority, but” saving a life—including ours—will be possible only if the fire and its effects are brought under control.
VESSEL-SPECIFIC OPERATIONAL PLAN
Just as fire department operations will, vary according to structure type, no single operational plan will work for every vessel. Firefighting and rescue operation strategies depend on the size and configuration of the vessel and the location and extent of the fire.
(Photo top left by Gary Novack; other photos by author.)
(Photos by author.)
Following is an example of a vesselspecific plan that works well for cabin fires on the lower decks of small freighters:
- Identify access and ventilation routes. Determine if an approach below the fire can be made through the engine room.
- Rig a hauling system, using mechanical advantage, for emergency evacuation
- of an injured firefighter.
- Ventilate the fire deck, preferably at a different vertical opening than the stairway used to reach the fire. Ventilate only when the hoseline is ready to advance to the fire.
- Have a crew of three firefighters advance a hoseline down the stairs. The last firefighter on the line remains at the bottom of the stairs to feed and withdraw hose as needed. The second firefighter takes a position somewhere between the nozzle and the stairs; it is that member’s job to maneuver the hose around corners. The nozzleman advances the line while searching for the fire. From the ship’s plans and a prefire knowledge of similar vessels, the crew will have acquired a rough idea of how to proceed: Advance the hoseline in a semicircular path, in and out of cabins arranged around the engine room casing.
- Organize a plan for searching the lower decks appropriate for the size and layout of the vessel. Develop the plan with information pertaining to the vessel’s general arrangement gleaned from the ship’s fire plan.
- Have a search team consisting of three firefighters attach the free end of a search rope in clear air and make the descent with the rope bag. As the members proceed with the search, the rope will play out of its bag, giving them a line to follow back to safety.
One member of the search team remains at the bottom of the stairs. The other two firefighters begin a right-handor left-hand-oriented search from cabin to cabin. Only one firefighter enters and searches a cabin; the other remains at the cabin doorway with the search rope and a strong light.
The size or complexity of a vessel may require that searchers stay in physical contact. Generally, this is not necessary or desirable because cabins on most small vessels can be thoroughly searched by a firefighter who has only to venture inside a few feet. Following the search pattern will bring the firefighter back to the doorway used to enter the cabin. Searchers crossing over a raised sill in a doorway have an indication that they are entering another compartment. A final point: Don’t overlook upper bunks when searching a cabin.
- After knockdown of the visible fire, the fire areas and surrounding compartments must be overhauled. Open and examine overheads and other concealed spaces for hidden fire fueled by electrical cable insulation. Wiring in the electrical system of a ship is not encased in conduit. A fire originating in or spreading to wiring can spread along cable insulation into adjacent spaces. Carefully examine penetrations in bulkheads for electrical wiring above the ceiling for fire extension.
(Photos by author.)
RELIEF AND FIREFIGHTER RESCUE
Although the number of personnel operating below deck at any one time must be limited, a reserve of firefighters must be standing by for frequent relief. Personnel will tire quickly from the extreme heat encountered in fighting a fire in what essentially is a steel box. The hazards of fighting fire below deck require that an officer be assigned solely to ensure the safety of personnel operating in confined, smoky areas with limited access. This safety officer must have strict control over the entrance to the hazardous area and be responsible for tracking the position and progress of personnel operating below and also must continuously monitor and record the duration of their air supply.
A critical element of a marine fireground organization is to designate a rescue team of fresh personnel—a “rapid intervention team”—whose sole function is to immediately be deployed to rescue a firefighter. Fighting a fire on a lower deck of a small vessel, for all intents and purposes, is a confined-space operation and, therefore, requires all the safety considerations normally associated with such a procedure.
WATER RESCUE
Another safety concern when engaged in marine firefighting is the eventuality that someone will end up in the water. A water rescue sector is an essential component of a marine firefighting organization and should be established early in the incident. Train and equip water rescue personnel to recover firefighters who fall in the water from dockside and the ship. Place ladders on the dock to reach the water and have on hand a sufficient supply of flotation devices to assist firefighters. Launch a rescue boat as stx>n as possible to cover the waterside of a vessel. A rescue boat becomes more critical in situations involving vessels of great length and when adverse conditions such as darkness, frigid waters, and strong currents are present.
Firefighters falling into the narrow space between a ship and a sea wall are in a particularly dangerous predicament. There may not be sufficient room for them to climb a ladder placed down to the water. Immersed firefighters can be crushed against the sea wall as a result of the vessel’s listing or wave action. Responsibility for water safety actually begins with all firefighters long before they respond to an incident on the waterfront. Our department teaches water survival skills to each new recruit as part of basic training. Personnel are taught how to float for several minutes while wearing protective clothing and SCBA.
PREPARE FOR A SHIR IN STRATEGY
Conditions inside a ship can deteriorate very rapidly, necessitating a sudden shift in strategy. An interior attack may be appropriate as long as the risk to personnel is acceptable. There is a world of difference, for example, between fighting a ship fire in port and fighting fire on the high seas. When a ship catches fire in the North Atlantic, the crew must save the ship to save themselves; practically no amount of risk is unreasonable. Fortunately, land-based firefighters have an option when risk to firefighters outweighs any benefit to be derived from an offensive attack: Switch to plan B, the defensive mode. Even when conditions indicate that an interior attack will be safe and successful, the incident commander should formulate and communicate a defensive contingency plan to all operating units. A forward-thinking incident commander will facilitate a smooth transition from offensive to defensive strategy, which may include the following tactics:
- flooding compartments;
- allowing fire to bum while cooling exposed decks, bulkheads, and fuel tanks;
- cutting holes in the hull of the ship;
- applying bulk carbon dioxide; and
- scuttling or otherwise sinking the vessel.
Some of these tactics can threaten personnel and the waterway. Options will be more effective and appropriate when chosen with input from port directors, vessel, owners, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
