Survivor ‘lucky to be alive’

THE Tasmania Fire Service says a man who was forced to jump from his burning fishing boat off the coast of Port Arthur is “very lucky to be alive”.

Fire investigator Adam Doran yesterday said the most likely cause of the blaze aboard the 12-metre fishing vessel was an electrical fault or malfunction under the wheelhouse.

After unsuccessful attempts to access a fire extinguisher, the owner abandoned the boat at 5.30am on Thursday before swimming about 2km to shore.

He raised the alarm with emergency services about 8.30am after a passer-by picked him up and dropped him at a local hotel.

Mr Doran said no smoke alarms were installed on the boat and the owner had only just woken up when the fire started.

“He is very lucky to be alive and it is amazing that he wasn’t injured,” Mr Doran said.

“We cannot emphasise strongly enough the importance of smoke alarms being installed in every sleeping area, this includes boats and caravans and anywhere else you sleep, even if it’s just for a night.

“In this instance, the boat owner did have some of the necessary fire safety equip- ment on board but the absence of a smoke alarm means this could have ended with dire consequences if he was still asleep.

“You can’t smell smoke when you are asleep, so you rely on your other senses, such as your hearing, to alert you when there is a fire.”

The boat was towed to the Oyster Cove Marina at Ketter- ing on Thursday night by two vessels from Pennicott Wilderness Journeys.

When it arrived fire crews continued to extinguish remaining hot spots.