Firefighting on Ships - Tactical Considerations

According to Lloyd’s Register FairPlay, between 2000 and 2010, fires on ship’s accounted for 15% of all marine incidents, and one in seven resulted in a fatality. The main reasons for fires on board ships can be broadly grouped into two categories. The first is electricity; electricity and water don’t mix and when they do it will often result in fire. The second is due to the types of materials found on ships. Fuels and oils for machinery, paints or acids and alkalis. These materials could be an ignition source or provide fuel for fires.

Whatever the cause of a fire is, the outcome is equally dangerous and the crew need to act quickly in order to protect the ship, life and the environment. Strategic decisions will be made by the Master with regards to the approach the crew will take to fight the fire, such as whether the crew will maintain and offensive or a defensive attack or whether a fixed fire fighting system will be deployed but this article will look at some of the tactical decisions which must be considered and communicated to all those involved in order to fight the fire in the safest way possible.

Forward Control Point (FCP)

This is the first thing to consider after the Master has decided on the fire fighting strategy. The FCP is the location from where the tactical aspects of the response is controlled and where the person in charge (PIC) of fighting the fire is located (typically the Chief Mate). It should be located as close as possible to the space with the fire in but must be safe. This is nearly always going to be in fresh air so that there is no risk from smoke or fumes. When deciding upon the location of the FCP, the PIC should also consider communications with both the Master and the fire team.

Fire Boundary

The next consideration for the PIC is the fire boundary. This will include the space the fire is in and any spaces only accessible from that space. For example, on our vessels where there is an engineroom fire, the fire boundary would include the boundary of the engineroom and the control room. If there are any breaks in the fire boundary for example, a fire door is known to be open, then the fire boundary should be expanded to include that space too.

Setting the fire boundary is important as it will dictate where boundary cooling or boundary starvation should take place. If the extent of the fire boundary is not communicated to those setting up these actions, they may only be partially effective.

Smoke Boundary

Identifying, setting up and communicating the smoke boundary is an extremely important but often missed part of the considerations made by the PIC. The smoke boundary is the limit of where we expect any smoke and vapours given off by the fire, to be. The smoke and vapours may not be visible but could be toxic or flammable and it is important that no-one enters the smoke boundary unless they are ‘on air’.

Initially, the smoke boundary will be the same as the fire boundary but as we send a fire team into the fire whilst running hoses through doorways or hatches, the smoke boundary will expand. This area should be identified and communicated to crew before the fire fighters make an entry into a space.

 BA Team Priorities

Setting and communicating the priorities for the BA Team feels like something which doesn’t need to be done by the PIC, it should be the same for each fire, right? Surprisingly not. The priorities may be different depending on the Master’s strategy for fighting the fire, or whether a member of the crew is missing and presumed to be within the smoke or fire boundary.

Whatever the priorities are, they need to be communicated to the BA team before they go on air and enter the smoke boundary. It is essential that the PIC is confident that the team understands those priorities so positive feedback should be used.

Boundary Cooling / Starvation

On most ships, boundary cooling is set up as soon as possible and will take up considerable resources depending on the extent of the fire boundary. It may even need crew in BA if the fire boundary is smaller than the smoke boundary. 

Does it need to be set up so soon?  That depends on the location of the fire and what is the standard of the boundaries. For an engineroom fire for example, if none of the doors in the engineroom have been left open, the fire boundary is made up of A60 bulkheads and deckheads. This means that conduction of the heat through the bulkhead is restricted and so boundary cooling may not be as much of a priority as has been previously considered and so resources could be applied elsewhere first.

Boundary Starvation is the removal of flammable objects or dangerous substances from around the fire boundary to prevent fire from being established outside of the fire boundary. This will include removing furniture, deck and bulkhead coverings as well as other things such as COSHH or waste. This will also enable boundary cooling to be more effective. Tools such as crowbars or hatchets may be required to help with this.

Another consideration for boundary cooling is how many hoses can be run from the fire pumps in use. We know that each fire pump can provide a minimum pressure for two hoses but how many can it actually provide for and will using several hoses for boundary cooling reduce the pressure in the system, thereby putting the BA Team in danger?

Other Considerations

Now that the BA Team has entered the smoke boundary, there are several actions that can be taken or things which can be prepared:

• First Aid Equipment - anyone involved in the fire, especially the BA team, are at risk from being injured. Collecting equipment or setting up a first aid post will ensure time is not wasted should the worst happen. This is obviously a primary action should you be looking for a casualty.
• BA Bottle Dump - is a second entry going to need to be made? There are several reason why this may be required and having all the spare BA bottles brought to the FCP will speed up any necessary turn around.
• Water - when the BA Team return from the fire, they will most likely be dehydrated and over heated. They will need fresh drinking water as soon as possible. Submersing their wrists in a bucket of cool water will also enable them to regulated their body temperature more quickly.

This is the first of three articles on considerations for fire fighting on ships. The following articles will introduce some strategic and operational considerations which can be made by the Master or the BA Team.