Recently I heard news of two catastrophic fires, the first on a chartered catamaran in Anguilla, and the second on the famous Rachel Pugh 75 Titan during Antigua Race Week. Investigations into the fires are underway but everything points to faults in the electrical systems.
We almost lost our classic yacht Driac II to an electrical fire while cruising the Caribbean. We were heading for the Virgin Islands on a rare windless day. The engine was rumbling and rattling away when suddenly the cabin filled with smoke. I dashed below and was almost overcome by fumes. Groping around, I managed to turn off the main switch, stop the engine, and rip out a handful of smoldering cable from behind the engine control panel. This was enough and the fire went out. Once the fumes had cleared, I checked the fire extinguishers and, sure enough, like everything else on our old boat, they were way out of date.
Looking back, I remember being shocked by the amount of fumes generated by such a small fire. It made me think just how difficult it would be to put out a fire that really took hold. If you couldn’t extinguish it quickly, then chances are you wouldn’t extinguish it at all.
It’s frightening just how many crews don’t know where the fire extinguishers are located. Even worse, and here I speak from experience during a fire ashore, is grabbing a fire extinguisher only to find that when you hit the trigger it fails to go off.
Perhaps now is a good time to check your emergency equipment and brush up on firefighting techniques.
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