Fire and smoke detection; automatic alarm systems; actions on board
Governing: STCW Table A-VI/1-2; REG Yacht Code Part A, 14A.7 and 14B.16. Builds on: L2.1.
Detection
Early detection is worth more than any extinguisher. REG Yacht Code yachts carry fixed fire detection and alarm systems; larger yachts have more extensive, often addressable, systems.
| Detector | Senses | Typical location | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optical smoke | Smoke particles scattering light | Cabins, corridors, saloons | Steam and dust can cause false alarms |
| Ionisation smoke | Small combustion particles | Older installations | Less used now |
| Heat, fixed temperature | Temperature above a set point | Galleys, laundries | Slower; the fire is well established |
| Heat, rate-of-rise | Rapid temperature increase | Galleys, machinery spaces | Can alarm on sudden heat loads |
| Flame | Infrared or ultraviolet radiation | Engine rooms, garages | Needs line of sight |
| CCTV and thermal imaging | Visual, heat patterns | Garages, battery stowage | Needs someone watching |
MGN 681 recommends CCTV monitored from a continuously manned position, and suggests thermal imaging, for spaces storing electric toys and tenders.
The panel
The fire detection panel, usually on the bridge with a repeater in the engine control room or crew mess, shows which zone or detector has alarmed. Know how to read it. A single detector alarm is investigated; multiple alarms spreading along a zone mean a growing fire.
CAUTION — Isolated detectors During refit, galley cleaning or cabin steam cleaning, detectors are sometimes isolated. Isolations must be logged and restored. A detector left isolated after a job is a common factor in serious yacht fires.
The first two minutes
If you discover a fire:
- Raise the alarm: shout "Fire!", use the nearest manual call point, and inform the bridge by any means.
- Report clearly: location, what is burning, size, casualties or missing people, and what you are doing.
- Attack it only if it is small, you have the right extinguisher, and you have a clear escape route behind you.
- If you cannot control it, get out, close the door, and keep others away.
- Isolate if trained and it is safe: galley gas and power, local ventilation.
- Muster and report to the fire party leader what you saw.
WARNING — Do not be a hero A portable extinguisher is for a fire in its very early stages. If it has spread beyond the item where it started, or the room is filling with smoke, leave and close the door.
Doors and smoke
- Feel a door with the back of your hand before opening; if hot, do not open it without BA and a charged hose.
- Stay low in smoke; cleaner air is near the deck.
- Close doors behind you as you evacuate.
- Never use a lift in a fire.
Escape
Know two ways out of every space you work in. Emergency escape breathing devices (EEBDs), where fitted, are for escape only: they give a short supply of air to get out, not to fight fire.
TIP — The perfect report "Bridge, deck: fire in the port laundry, dryer burning, room filling with smoke, nobody inside, door closed, I'm at the aft crew stairwell." Fifteen seconds; everything the master needs.