Fires on Board

[John Arton]

The incident on the DFDS ferry sailing from Newcastle to Ijmuiden where an idiotic passenger is alleged to set fire to their cabin led me to think of a couple of things.
Firstly some passengers talked of mass panic, where do the t.v. stations get these people from, do they just look for the most dumb looking and then shove a microphone in their face hoping for comments such as "mass panic" etc.
I guess there would have been some scenes of panic (not mass) when passengers discovered smoke in the alleyways but they were most likely never in any serious danger as even though she was not the most modern ship there had been a major refit in 2006 so all cabin bulkheads would be A class to prevent smoke and flame passage for 60 minutes and also most likely sprinkler system had been fitted.
There would have been NO SMOKING signs all over the place and in all cabins so the idiot who allegedly started the fire had to have done it deliberately.
Many of us will have experienced minor (and sometimes major) fires at sea and as professional mariners it was one of our biggest fears and as the DFDS spokesman said, ships crew regularly train for such events and very quickly got the situation under control.
As an aside can anyone remember the safety films that were shown at the beginning of the Walport films we had at sea, there was one that showed a guy falling asleep in his bunk with a lighted cigarette resulting in a fire (all cabins I lived in had a sign stating smoking in bed was prohibited fixed to the bulkhead by your bunk), another one showed the dangers of putting a cloth over a lamp to darken the cabin. Believe in the film it was a red rag over a cabin light..must have been trying to re-create his favourite bar.
There was also the film Fire Down below which used to do the rounds with Walport.
All the safety films were actually based on actual incidents that had occurred at some previous times and certainly drove the message home in a very straight and simple manner.
Rgds
JA

[robpage]

The Walport films could be quite interesting , I remember the don't catch the pox one and Fire Down Below well , Clan Line also showed a set of pictures of a ships accommodation burned out because of smoking in bed ,m that was scary

[Jim Brady]

In Montreal I think that there was three options to attend depending on your fire station number.One trip you could be rowing around the dock on lifeboat drill.I remember another time having to attend the cinema to watch films re;fires.One was as John mentioned putting a towel over the main light in the cabin where different watch keepers lived.It was aboard a tanker and was very authentic and the BOT enquiry showed where it all went wrong and who should've done what etc.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Ivan Cloherty]

John #1, you may have it correct that they seek out the idiots to give interviews, but then again those of us who have been interviewed by the Press, do not recognise what we said when we see it in print, either because they don't like the truth or it doesn't gel with their idea of a story. However having said that that, there did seem to be an unusual amount of whimps on board if the facts were reported correctly e.g 'they never gave us anything to eat until 7 am this morning'..........'it was terrifying I'm never going on another boat!'................ 'I shall never go abroad again it's much safer in England'.............. for gawds sake get a life

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi shipmates, Any one whos had the bad luck to be in a fire at sea or land? its no joke. Dont mess with equipment or do things like smoke in bed.... Done my fire-fighting ticket in slivertown puting out fires and climbing up ladders .The fire service do a great job ... on very low wages...

[robpage]

We were on the MV Earl William , the generator with a major fault , the quick way to the engine room was through spew mile , a seating area of 500 passengers , I got stopped on my way to an emergency by an irate punter , I demand to know when the ship is sailing , and who are you , I never wore epaulettes on a boiler suit , height of oddness that , so I knew it was not going anywhere that night , He was very rude and told me he was a GP , I was angry and busy , very busy , So I shouted at him , If you are a GP a little time waiting might teach you what it is like to visit a surgery , I got an ovation from his neighbouring passengers which distracted him as I went past . I had to report to the Old Man , and tell him one Generator was dead , and a second suspect , but I had to be sure that what I said was the correct facts , because a 1000 passengers were going to be angry , all over the old man , and Sealink . Passengers should be containerised and shipped on board in sealed boxes as far as I am concerned .

[Red Lead Ted]

John #1, you may have it correct that they seek out the idiots to give interviews, but then again those of us who have been interviewed by the Press, do not recognise what we said when we see it in print, either because they don't like the truth or it doesn't gel with their idea of a story. However having said that that, there did seem to be an unusual amount of whimps on board if the facts were reported correctly e.g 'they never gave us anything to eat until 7 am this morning'..........'it was terrifying I'm never going on another boat!'................ 'I shall never go abroad again it's much safer in England'.............. for gawds sake get a life

Good on you Ivan Terry. There is nothing wrong with reporting negative vibes when you have experienced them.

[Lou Barron]

Fire at sea is deadly when our ship was getting shelled and machine gunned by the German raider it set the drums of petrol on fire in the well deck as our quarters was in the forepeak we had no other way to get to the boat deck I must say there was no mass panic we did get to the boat deck the rest is history

[Ivan Cloherty]

Now you see the difference in young men in #5 and the young men in #9, thank god for the likes of the men in #9

All the best Lou for 2014 from Wendy and Ivan, her kiss is on its way

[robpage]

I was only ever on one ship that carried petrol like that Lou , Clan McIndoe , drums of Petrol for St Helena , It was possible my least favourite type of cargo , There was a stench of petrol around the drums despite them being sealed