Fire has destroyed three yachts at a Norfolk boatyard, highlighting the difficulties facing boat yards and harbours in maintaining fire safety in an environment where individual owners often carry out their own work.
The luxury yachts were said by the Harbour Master to be three of the largest and most expensive yachts berthed at the Wells-next-the-Sea facility. The total financial loss is expected to be several hundred thousand pounds.
Initial indications are that the fire began in one of the yachts, which was on dry land at the time.
Its owner was preparing the boat for the summer season and is believed to have been using a heat gun. The lining of the boat caught fire, and, despite his best efforts, the owner was unable to put it out. Harbour Master Bob Smith described how the owner had to be persuaded to give up the fight and save himself.
Strong winds contributed to the fire’s rapid development and its eventual spread to the two other vessels. Thick black smoke was seen rising from the site, and one witness described hearing the sound of gas canisters and cylinders exploding.
Four fire engines and more than 30 fire fighters brought the flames under control, preventing an even bigger disaster. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Lethal combination
With private owners being unrestrained by workplace safety regulations, it can be difficult to implement much in the way of risk control measures in harbours, quays, and dry docks.
The lethal combination of the vessels’ combustible materials, fuels and oils, hazardous substances, confined working space, and, as shown here, hot works all converge to create a high-risk situation. And, as in this case, with vessels packed tightly together there’s a high chance of any fire spreading from one craft to the next.
Added to this, there are poor means of escape whether the boat is in the water or not. (When on dry land it’s quite rare for an owner to take the trouble to properly lash a ladder securely in place.) Those caught in fires on board are therefore at immediate threat.
Getting the basics right
Information published by Boat Safety Scheme shows that, on average, every year in the UK, 89 fire-related accidents and injuries occur on boats and that at least three people are killed by fire on privately owned boats.
Many of the risk control measures promoted by Boat Safety Scheme are simple preventive actions, which ought to be employed in any premises — controls over smoking and cooking, care with fuels, smoke detection, the provision of suitable fire extinguishers, having an emergency plan, etc. The difference, of course, is the much higher probability of a fire taking hold before it can be extinguished and the confined nature of the premises.
As Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service cautions:
Boats are a generally small and have many facilities in unlikely places to make the maximum use of the limited space. There is little fire resistance in a boat with building materials consisting of timber, plastic and glass fibre which all burn readily. If a fire does break out it will develop rapidly consuming the fabric of the vessel with considerable speed.
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