BoatUS - Dramatic footage of burning sportfish- Are you prepared?
by BoatU.S. on 11 Nov 2010
BoatUS BoatUS Press Room
Dear Friends
Sometimes no matter what you do, a day on the water doesn't turn out the way you planned. I want to share some video footage of an incident that occurred yesterday on the ICW in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida.
Capt. Clayton Tieman of TowBoatUS Tampa Bay arrived on the scene of a large sportfish engulfed in flames, and took these short video clips:
Tieman's arrival was less than five minutes after the time of the mayday call, yet the vessel's deck was already hot enough to burn the mate's feet before Tieman was able to evacuate the captain and mate to the TowBoatUS vessel. After discovering the fire, the crew had done everything right by immediately issuing a mayday call with precise location information, set anchor, and attacked with every available extinguisher.
Yet it wasn't enough.
Are you ready for a day like this on the water? What is the condition and location of your fire extinguishers or other firefighting equipment? And most importantly, are you ready to abandon your boat in a moment's notice? Are your survival gear, life jackets and valuables within arm's reach?
Just some things I hope you think about.
Here's some more information on the subject:
-Top six causes of boat fires:
http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/fire/default.asp
-Everything you ever wanted to know about fighting boat fires:
www.boatus.org/onlinecourse/reviewpages/boatusf/PDF_files/info6b.pdf
Kindest,
Scott Croft
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