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Fire and Rescue Service lends support to Boat Fire Safety Week
NORTHUMBERLAND Fire and Rescue Service is supporting Boat Fire Safety Week to urge the boating community to be more fire safe on board.
Although boat fires on our coastal and inland waters are less common than fires on land, when they do occur, they can have devastating consequences.
Boats are often in remote locations with difficult access, which may result in fire fighters takADVERTISEMENTing longer to arrive at an incident and allowing a fire to totally destroy a boat and everything onboard.
Rob Clow, head of Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service's Community Safety Academy explains: "Although we do not have many serious fires on boats in Northumberland, we have had four major fires and explosions since 2001 and we know that fires on boats can be extremely dangerous, so we are urging boaters to take precautions to prevent these fires types of fires happening."
Tips: Invest in detection equipment such as smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and gas/flammable vapour alarms; when possible, don't install liquefied petroleum gas heating appliances; if you are unsure how to install something on your boat, get a professional to do it for you.
Boats present a challenging environment for smoke alarms due to high humidity, temperature extremes and vibration levels.
Optical sensor alarms with hush buttons and sealed for life batteries are recommended and alarms should meet British Standard (BS) 5446:2000 Part 1, or BS EN 14606:2005. Boat owners should check for a British Standard 'Kitemark' or a LPCB 'Horseshoe' mark , both marks of independent testing and approval.
As with smoke alarms in the home, alarms should be tested regularly and should never be disconnected.
Sent: 28/05/2008
Email us direct at: repairs@londonheatingservices.co.uk
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