During the national Fire Safety Campaign’s Boat Fire Safety Week, firefighters and fire prevention staff will be taking the message to boaters – It’s time for all boats to have suitable smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. The safety teams will be visiting boat owners from May 28th and will be handing out Fire Safety on Boats leaflets so that they know the risks and can protect themselves.
Timed for the start of the boating season, the heart of the message is that all crew members should understand the risks and follow the published advice from the Boat Safety Scheme in its leaflets and on its website.
Despite all efforts, should fire break out or a carbon monoxide escape occur, the critical survival factor will be the presence of suitable working smoke and CO alarms. The Scheme publishes lists of suitable alarms on its website and has advice from the manufacturers on the best places to fix the devices. Alarms should be tested using the test button routinely and the batteries replaced as necessary and never removed.
Boat Safety Scheme Manager, Graham Watts said: “In the past 20 years, 30 boaters were killed in boat fires and another 30 lost their lives to the highly toxic CO gas.”
“It’s time everyone said ‘no more avoidable tragedies’. Being protected by suitable smoke and carbon monoxide alarms should be viewed as a normal part of boat ownership.”
