Galley Fire

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FourPoints

FourPoints

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Apr 8, 2010
1,606
Frers 33 41426 Westport, CT
Had a fire in the galley over the weekend... Everyone is ok, luckily the worst injury was a small burn on Jen's thumb that blistered. Galley is pretty messed up, but mostly surface damage. I wrote up a short description and posted pics on my site. I'm meeting the insurance company (Boat US) surveyor tonight at 6pm for him to look at everything and take his own pictures.

http://sailingit.com/blog/boating-adventures/galley-fire
 
Bob S

Bob S

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Sep 27, 2007
1,774
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
Wow, sorry to hear this. Glad Jen got through it ok. I'm sure she's a wreck. You where luck you kept your head and did a great job to get a bad situation under control. kinda dampens the season. Sorry and good luck.
 
kpgraci

kpgraci

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Jun 12, 2010
936
Oday 22 Orleans Marina, NOLA
Glad everyone is (pretty much) OK. That could have been much worse. Scary stuff.

Pretty much secondary at this point and I don't think you can buy them anymore, but I've got an old Halon extinguisher I hear is good for fuel fires and does not leave a mess.
 
LuzSD

LuzSD

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Feb 21, 2009
1,009
Catalina 30 San Diego/ Dana Point, Ca.
agree, with all that happening it sounds like everyone keep thinking and did what you needed to do. Good luck, what a frightening thing to happen.
 
FourPoints

FourPoints

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Apr 8, 2010
1,606
Frers 33 41426 Westport, CT
It could have been so much worse... when the fire started, I was in the dinghy getting ready to take the outboard off and put it back on the stern rail mount.
 
sailaway78

sailaway78

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May 11, 2005
3,431
Seidelman S37 Slidell, La.
Quick thinking

Quick thinking by everyone. You and she both kept your wits about you, and did what was needed to be done. Wonder how many would think to jump into the water, before they got burned really bad. Sorry to hear of the fire, but congrats on doing things right after it happened.
 
FourPoints

FourPoints

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Apr 8, 2010
1,606
Frers 33 41426 Westport, CT
I think the jump in the water suggestion was actually from our friend who was in the cockpit, but she was already heading that direction so I think she would have jumped in anyway.

He's a nuclear engineer with very little experience on boats, but a heavy side of common sense. He was just as calm as I was through the whole thing. I think the fact that both of us were able to remain completly calm and rational and take quick action was a huge factor in keeping the damage as localized as it was, and the fact that the worst injury was a burned knuckle on her thumb. If people had panacked or reacted slower, things would have probably turned out very differently and we may have been using the dinghy as a life raft...
 
gpd955

gpd955

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Feb 22, 2006
1,164
Catalina 310 Cape May, NJ
Wow. Good thing you guys got right on top of it. Glad to hear everyone is OK (excepting a thumb). Hopefully the boat will be not too difficult to get situated.

Been doing MOB drills with the 7 y/o so I think we will discuss fires this week.
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
From the look of everything you had about one minute more before you would have lost the boat. Glad that the damage was kept to a minimum even as bad as it is.
 
FourPoints

FourPoints

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Apr 8, 2010
1,606
Frers 33 41426 Westport, CT
Ross said:
From the look of everything you had about one minute more before you would have lost the boat. Glad that the damage was kept to a minimum even as bad as it is.
Click to expand
My guess was closer to 2 minutes, the flames were small and still mostly fueled by the spilled alcohol, not by the wood / fiberglass (in fact there is only the one spot of charred fiberglass under the stove, otherwise it was only the wood). However the flames were definitely starting to take hold in some of the wood and with a puddle of still unburned alcohol to keep feeding it, it would have continued to grow quickly.

One minute of time would have made it very difficult to put the fire out (and almost surely would have needed both extinguishers if I was going to be successful), and the damage to the boat would have been severe. Two minutes, I doubt I could have put it out and saved the boat.

It's hard to say because I don't know exactly how long it took her to run up once the fire started, but I know that I was spraying the fire with the extinguisher within 5-7 seconds of seeing her jump overboard. I think there was probably around 20 or 30 seconds of time from when the fire started to the extinguisher being sprayed...
 
E

ehh

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May 15, 2011
21
Albin Vega 27 Dahlgren VA
For what it's worth, I take the canisters out of the stove and fill them on deck. And I keep the alcohol out of the cabin.
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
This is the best reason I can think of to have fire extinguishers very accessable. I have seen them in kitchens in homes shoved to the very back of the cabinet under the sink. On my boat neither the fire extinguishers or the PFD's are locked up. In either case you have less than a minute to be able to put one to use.
 
FourPoints

FourPoints

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Apr 8, 2010
1,606
Frers 33 41426 Westport, CT
Ross said:
This is the best reason I can think of to have fire extinguishers very accessible. I have seen them in kitchens in homes shoved to the very back of the cabinet under the sink. On my boat neither the fire extinguishers or the PFD's are locked up. In either case you have less than a minute to be able to put one to use.
Click to expand

I keep 2 extinguishers in the cabin, one port and one starboard, roughly midships. The starboard one is in the galley under the sink, and the one we used. They are both immediately inside of lockers that have only spring latches that cannot be locked, and on the side that opens (i.e. opposite of the hinge) so they are easiest to reach, and access is not interfered by the door to the locker. They are also mounted high by the top of the door using the bracket supplied with the extinguisher, so they cannot be blocked by anything. The only complaint about this was the bracket. My buddy who was first to reach the extinguisher (he had a large head start, I was in the dinghy) had trouble with the strap not releasing, and instead of figuring it out he just pulled hard and broke the plastic bracket, so one way or another, the bracket design worked well enough (the replacement extinguisher will have a new one so breaking it to remove in an emergency is not a negative to me).

I now plan to add a 3rd extinguisher in a cockpit locker, but I need to figure out how/where to install it so it cannot be blocked by fenders or dock lines.
 
S

Steve Dion

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Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
It is great that she only received a minor burn. Depending on the situation this could be deadly.

A lesson learned. Be sure that you never fill the pods in the stove. We always put our in the sink. Be sure to never fill them if the pod is hot. Alcohol vaporizes at a very low temp.

If you don't have an instruction manual you may want to print one out just for safety concerns.

If you have to have an alcohol stove the Origo is one of the best, but it is just like anything else you need to be careful.
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
When next i am at my boat i will take pix of my extinguisher on the underside of the lazerette hatch. When you open the hatch the bottle is right there held in place with velcro.
 
Prime Time

Prime Time

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Sep 25, 2008
544
Bristol 43.3 Perth Amboy
Steve Dion said:
It is great that she only received a minor burn. Depending on the situation this could be deadly.

A lesson learned. Be sure that you never fill the pods in the stove. We always put our in the sink. Be sure to never fill them if the pod is hot. Alcohol vaporizes at a very low temp.

If you don't have an instruction manual you may want to print one out just for safety concerns.

If you have to have an alcohol stove the Origo is one of the best, but it is just like anything else you need to be careful.
Click to expand
I made this mistake a couple of yes ago, filling the pods in place. The spilled etoh ignited when I lit the burners. Fortunately nothing ran out of the stove.
 
Maine Sail

Maine Sail

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Feb 6, 1998
11,674
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Ouch! Sorry to hear of your damage and your wife's burns.:cry:

We stopped using alcohol a number of years ago after having two very seasoned alcohol stove users start fires though none were as bad as yours. They can be highly reliable but anytime you have to pour a fuel on a boat it makes me uncomfortable..

Fires near or on the stove is why the ABYC requires an LPG solenoid cut off switch not located over or behind the stove. Trying to reach over a fire is never fun.

As for extinguishers one of ours is mounted to the starboard bulkhead opposite the stove, which is on port. I wanted it far enough away from the stove that I could get to it if a flame ensued at the stove. Not very pretty but functional.

I hope all goes well with the insurance adjuster. At least the damage does not hinder sailing and while I am sure it does not smell good and is not pretty to look at at least you can still sail!:) You can try PureAyre to minimize the charred odors. I use it in the fire place in the off season and it works really well at keeping that smokey smell at bay.
 
Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

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Feb 26, 2004
22,776
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Brian, glad to hear you're all pretty much physically well. Best regards to your wife. This is one of, if not actually the first fire stories I've ver heard from Origo stoves in the past 25 years. We had one on our C25 and loved it. You've already read the replies about...

All the best, Stu
 
ggrizzard

ggrizzard

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May 27, 2004
1,976
Hunter 30_74-83 Ponce Inlet FL
While halon is no longer available, a replacement is available with the same basic properties. Can't find the online source (a "firefighter's" supplier) that I purchased mine from, but I found it by starting a google search with "Halon".
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
You don't see them much any more but CO2 extinguishers were/are excellant. The CO2 snow cools the fire and then blankets it with CO2 gas and cuts off the oxygen supply then it evaporates cleanly and the fire can restart if there is fuel and ignition.
 
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