Fanning the Flames of Boater Safety

The January issue of looks like another really good one. I have folded over at least 10 pages earmarking articles that I will read when things slow down over the holidays. But having an interest in marine fire protection, I had to jump right in and read the “More Is Better” article by Mike Smith. As always, the article was well written and calls attention to an important and frequently overlooked topic but if I may, I would like to add a couple of things that need further consideration.

We need to recognize that little by little over the past couple of decades the U.S. Coast Guard has been easing away from managing the pleasureboat segment of the boating industry.

First, the CFRs for pleasure boats have not been actively managed or updated in quite some time and the Coast Guard fire-extinguisher requirements are a perfect example. While the Coast Guard requires only B-type extinguishers, the ABYC and the NFPA both require A,B,C type extinguishers and twice the complement. While the Coast Guard does not require an Atype extinguisher on board at all, the NFPA requires an A-type extinguisher in each and every accommodation space.

The CFRs are frequently and solely cited in other articles and safety brochures as the boater’s requirements for onboard fire extinguishers. This amounts to inadequate information and the wellintended are misinformed! At least your article points out some of the (ABYC and NFPA) differences and yes more IS better!

Second, the 2014 U.S. Coast Guard Boating Safety Statistics, mentioned in the article show there were only 263 boat fires for the year, among roughly 12,000,000 registered vessels. The relatively infrequent fire stats might indicate that boats are a safe place when it comes to fire. A further look at the accident types listed in this report show that these are primarily openwater events. Of course far more than half of these recorded

POWER & MOTORYACHT

events are fuel-related and that is because the boat’s engine(s) are running when out on the open water.

Most boat fires occur at the dock and most of those fires are electrical (BoatUS states 55 percent) and electrical fires don’t even get a mention in the USCG report. Fires that occur in marinas are typically not recorded in the Coast Guard report (unless someone fills out a Coast Guard BARD report and this very rarely happens). While the Coast Guard report consistently shows an average of about 250 boat fires every year, the NFPA estimates that there are an average of 1,700 boat fires a year. Once again, the Coast Guard report amounts to inadequate information and once again the well-intended are misinformed.

Even worse, the industry safety standards organizations frequently cite the Coast Guard Boating Safety Statistics when considering fire protection regulations. In 2007 the ABYC paid a consultant to evaluate the need for smoke alarms aboard boats. More than half of the report is a justification effort against smoke alarms using the incomplete data as a basis for the report’s opinion. Thus, the ABYC still doesn’t require smoke alarms in pleasure boats! (The NFPA has since 2004 and the RV industry since 1982.)

The Coast Guard role has greatly changed over the past 20 years or so. The pleasureboat sector is fast becoming a self-regulated industry whether we like or not and whether we even know it or not. Our fire-protection efforts are far behind other consumeroriented industries and need to improve.

Keep up the good work! —John McDevitt

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