Association Forum - Marina Fire

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Marina Fire

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Joe Diver
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

USA
1218 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/31/2012 : 06:41:07

Hey Peter....hope you weren't involved in this!

[url="http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Boats-Catch-Fire-at-Marina-at-Lake-Ray-Hubbard-145233625.html"]Bayview Marina Fire[/url]

Looks like a boat caught fire refueling, drifted over to a couple sailboats and sank.

Scott

When we left, we had just enough fuel to make it to San Juan. And now... we are out of fuel!

Edited by - Joe Diver on 03/31/2012 06:49:19

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2012 : 05:36:33

Scary!

My marina doesn't have a refueling station and they strictly prohibit refueling at the docks, probably to prevent fires such as this. When I need to add some fuel, I remove the fuel tank from the boat then carry it to the parking lot where I top it off.

Some time ago, I came across a C25 owner who had lost his boat in a fire at the storage yard. I ended up purchasing everything he had stored at home, which was a number of sails, pop-top cover, cockpit cushions, among other things. After selling the pop top cover and the excess sails, I ended up with an almost new UK loose footed main and a new asymmetrical spinnaker (he said he only flew it four times) that included a chute scoop all for a net of $100.00.

Edited by - on

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4312 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2012 : 08:13:55

It is unfortunate and scary. Unfortunate that several innocent people's boats were damaged and destroyed along with the powerboat because the owner of the powerboat decided to set it adrift while it was on fire in a crowded marina. I'm sure they were concerned the fuel dock might go up in flames too.

Scary that the family members on the powerboat and anyone nearby on the dock could have been severely burned or worse.

I wonder if they were new to boating and/or were careless and didn't run the blower, or if they did not run it long enough, or didn't extinguish a flame? Were they lax when they maintained the boat?

Thankfully only a couple of people had minor injuries!

I think Peter is usually at the marina shortly after 5 pm on Friday's. Hopefully he can give us some insight.

Edited by - on

islander
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2012 : 09:46:54

Really doesn't matter that the owner set it adrift or not. The fire will burn through the dock line very quickly and the boat will be adrift anyway. This is what happened at my Marina back in 07. The boat burned through the dock lines and floated across the fairway ending up sideways across multiple boats.

Edited by - on

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4312 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2012 : 12:22:07

Obviously not being there it's hard to know the sequence of events. For sure the lines will burn through at some point.

I only mentioned them setting it adrift because depending on the circumstances they might have gotten the fire under control while it was still relatively small and before it burned through the lines if it had remained at the dock where there should have been fire hoses and fire extinguishers available rather than it drifting out in the middle of the fairway with the fire growing in intensity until it got back near the dock.

I can say that unless you're there and involved in the event you don't know how you will react. I probably would have done the same thing under those conditions.

Edited by - GaryB on 04/01/2012 12:25:10

islander
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2012 : 13:49:51

True, Knowing that a boat carries 70-300 gals of gas, I don't think I would hang around trying to be a hero. More than likely I would be setting new land speed records getting out of there. Its only fiberglass, Not worth risking your life over.

Edited by - islander on 04/01/2012 13:55:16

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
5416 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2012 : 16:57:40

We have a number of fueling stations in our two harbors, and we've been lucky that there have been no incidents in the past 20 years (as long as I've been boating around here).
I have a 3 gallon gas tank and a backup 2.5 gallon gas can. I occasionally need to refill my main tank while underway. I think I'd better use my 5 gallon tank instead.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
9087 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2012 : 18:38:11

The risks have little to do with you guys with portable tanks. A powerboat with an internal tank and inboard engine faces two major risks: (1) fumes in the bilge that can be ignited by a spark, such as when starting the engine, and (2) a static spark between the gas nozzle and the collar on the filler port, which both should be grounded. ("Should" is the operative admonition.) When I fill my big tank, I keep hand pressure on the nozzle against the fill-port the entire time, which can be a while. (I can almost hear your sympathetic cries...

) I only have to do it 2-3 times a year...

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 04/01/2012 19:05:44

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
5416 Posts

Response Posted - 04/02/2012 : 05:35:10

You're right about the bilge ventilation issue Dave. It doesn't take much gas down below to create a huge explosion. Just a few ounces of gas when evaporated and mixed with air becomes the perfect air-gas mixture, and ka-boom!

When we perform vessel safety checks each spring, the ventilator fan is a major item. About 1 in 20 boats have inoperable fans or bad on-off switches. That's a serious problem. We won't pass them without it, so its good to know that at least a few potential catastrophes are prevented.

When you mention the static spark ignition - most people don't notice the flames until they pull the nozzle all the way out of the collar and drip gas around the filler. While dangerous, it's usually not a big deal.
But that's when people freak-out and whip the nozzle around frantically, leaking more gas and making matters much worse.

Edited by - on

Joe Diver
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1218 Posts

Response Posted - 04/02/2012 : 06:49:49

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by islander
 .... I would be setting new land speed records getting out of there. Its only fiberglass, Not worth risking your life over.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

X2...no lives involved or in imminent danger....let it go and the fire dept handle it. Everything can be cleaned up and replaced.

Edited by - on

PCP777
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1225 Posts

Response Posted - 04/02/2012 : 08:53:25

Yeah guys, I posted a bunch of pics in the pic thread. This was on my dock and my boat was on the other side of the dock so no apparent damage.

Took these pics from my cell. The culprit.

View towards the gas dock. The M -26 had just been bought by a young couple, their first boat.

Jeff's Benetuea

My boat is the fifth mast down on the right with the pirate flag hanging limply from it.

Edited by - on

Joe Diver
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1218 Posts

Response Posted - 04/02/2012 : 12:24:45

Wow! Dang Peter, that was close....too close!

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.