Vessel and Port Emergency Response Preparedness No Detail too Small to be Overlooked
by Ron Samson
Photos: Toronto Port Authority
Main: Two Oshkosh Striker fire trucks provide serious punch at Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto harbour. Inset: Island firefighters performing an ice rescue drill.
Ports, marina operators and ship
operators large and small across Canada and the United States constantly strive to maintain a high degree of response readiness through seminars, videos and exer- cise drills.
Land-based firefighting A firefighter with the parochial
view that a ‘fire is a fire’ could very well find himself in a life threaten- ing situation with that thinking. The marine environment is indeed very much different to what strictly land- based firefighters are accustomed to dealing with. Beyond that, tactics are differ-
ent when battling fires on different types of vessels – small boats, tank- ers, cruise ships, bulkers, tug boats
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and ferries – and even dry-dock fires. These courageous men and women have a lot to learn to become profi- cient at their chosen profession. Now, think about the skill level of
the mariner at sea, where an out-of- control situation means abandoning the vessel, very likely in hostile con- ditions. There is also the possibility for
serious legal repercussions for volunteer and mutual aid fire de- partments involving ship fire loses. Chapter 15-1.2 of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) states, “An understanding of the dangers inherent in marine firefight- ing should include an understanding of the consequences of the failure to provide a standard of training, planning, response, and action
equivalent to that which a depart- ment provides on the land-based portions of its response area.” The U.S. Fire Administration
states, “Dependence on traditional land-based firefighting skills which have often been mastered by in- dividuals selected or promoted to serve in marine units may be inefficient or dangerous in the non land-based environment.”
Land-based plus marine Many land-based fire depart-
ments near a body of water used by commercial ships and ferries up- grade department staff with marine firefighting skills in the event they might be called upon to assist in the extinguishing of an engine room fire or dealing with an explosion.
September 2013
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