NICHOLLS'S SEAMANSHIP AND NAUTICAL KNOWLEDGE
FIRE.
1. What precautions are usually adopted to prevent fire on board ship ?
Smoking in the holds during the loading and discharging of cargo or
indeed at any time when there is inflammable material in any compart-
ment should be rigorously prohibited. A match or lighted cigarette
carelessly thrown away may smoulder for days before bursting into
flame. Wire guards of close mesh placed in ventilator cowls are a
safety precaution against the thoughtless action of smokers.
The human sense of smell is utilised with suspicion when passing*
ventilators and openings leading into holds and peaks, and if there be
the slightest indication of smoke or heat emerging from an opening an
investigation should at once be made.
Regulations and byelaws relating to the prevention of fire are issued
at most ports and rigorously enforced by the authorities, the person in
charge of the ship being liable to a heavy fine should the rides not be
complied with. Stringent rules are laid down when the cargo is of a
highly inflammable nature such as cotton, flax, wool, oil, etc., which
may ignite by spontaneous combustion, all persons on board being .
prohibited from carrying matches, petrol lighters or any appliance for
producing ignition, and very often when no inflammable goods are
being handled only safety matches are permitted.
Persons engaged loading or discharging explosives must wear
rubber boots, and the coamings of hatches, gangways and rails are
specially protected with matting and wood so that the packages may
not knock against a hard surface.
Storerooms in which paint and anti-fouling compositions are stowed
should be well ventilated and no one should enter these spaces with
naked lights. The same precautions should be taken in cargo spaces
especially where coal or oil is, or has been, carried. The ship's electric
wiring is insulated and led through pipes or protected by casing.
2. What arrangements are made to cope with an outbreak of fire on
board ship at sea?
The provision made in cargo steamships is the usual deck water '
circTilation with the hose coupled up in lengths and connected to tho
hydrants on water pipes, with at least 12 fire buckets and occasionally
pome portable chemical fire extinguishers placed in convenient positions.
The Board of Trade has issued instructions regarding the proper **•
provision of fire extinguishing appliances* These recommendations f 1