The Fire
Hi Folks,
I was going to finally write a post about all the new things we're doing on board to keep warm and and the electric bill down. But then we had a rough night at the marina this last Tuesday, so I'm writing about that instead.
The evening began wonderfully. Celia had come back into town from her trip to California. She met Alice at the Seaport for dinner, and I joined them at the movie theater. The plan was to see "The Favourite".
When I got there, however, they were standing in a huge crowd on the street. The theater had been evacuated due to some unknown crisis in the building. This turned out to be a weird preview of the night.
But at the moment, I was glad we missed the movie. The three of us went for drinks at a bar nearby and I got the chance to ask Celia a million questions about her trip to her boyfriend Ian's family in Newport California. Ian's parents have a boat they lived on there. Wild! They also have a place in the mountains too. I wanted to know everything about Ian's family, and Celia was happy to share all the details. Ian's mom and stepfather sound like awesome people, and they gave Celia a lovely welcome.
By 10:30 pm we had gotten back to the boat and were tucked into bed. Alice was asleep and I was dozing off, watching TV on the iPad.
Five sharp and loud toots on a boat's horn woke me up. We learned in boat class that 5 toots means boat in distress. It could be any kind of emergency. I threw on boots and a coat and ran outside to the dock. I think I was expecting that maybe someone had a stranger on board, as there was a story a few weeks ago about gawkers getting into the marina and wandering around on what they thought were empty boats. Or maybe someone's boat was leaking bad and needed help.
Instead, there was a gigantic plume of smoke curving up like a dragon from T dock. Still half asleep, following the trail back to the fire at its source, and it dawned on me what I was looking at.
The fire was across the water at T dock, not near us on D. At the end of D dock a crowd gathered. We set out to make sure everyone on the dock was awake and no one would be caught unaware if the fire somehow spread further.
The three of us watched, as fire crews arrived and tackled the blaze.
A group of us walked over around the docks closer in. As one guy put it later, "Faces! I was looking for faces. I wanted to account for everyone I possibly could go make sure no one was missing."
There two fire departments responding, Boston and Massport. Around 50 fire fighters were in the battle, firing water from pumper trucks, ladders, and two fire fighting boats.
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| One of the Fire boats. We were lucky it was high tide, or it would have been difficult for that boat to get so close near the bridge. |
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| Here is a the ladder fire cannon raining down water from high over the Washington street bridge. |
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| A couple of the fire trucks. When they switched form water to foam, the fire fighters dumped huge containers of the chemicals into these pumper trucks. |
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| One of the many hard working men who put the fire out. These guys had to carry enormously heavy hoses and other equipment all through the response. |
The fire lasted from about 11:30 pm to 1:30 am. It took a very long hour for word to filter through to us that the people living on those boats were all safe.
Three boats were lost, and one was damaged.
We don't know the full details of exactly how the fire started yet. Electrical problems are a likely cause. When the fire started, the woman living there tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher. She was joined a few moments later by another man on a nearby boat. Together they emptied 6 fire extinguishers before giving up.
Even the firefighters had the same problem - tons of water dousing the flames, and then the fire would spring back up. I guess the reason for this might be the diesel fuel in the boats. Like mine their tanks were largely full. One of the good things about diesel is that is very hard to ignite. It doesn't catch fast like gasoline does. But once lit, its obviously hard to put out. The firefighters added a chemical solution to the pumping trucks, and I think the foam it produced finally put the flames out.
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The smoke has cleared, but the marina community is still alight. The wreckage of the boats is being cleared away, and the water is being cleaned of debris and contaminants. Most importantly, those who lost their boats are being cared for. The community has really come together to help those who lost everything.
We're all looking out for one couple in particular, Will and Kate. Will works here at the marina has a mechanic and dock repairman, and Kate is 7 months pregnant. Everyone has contributed clothes, money and other things to get them started again.
Will had worked so hard to get the boat ready for the baby, and now its gone. They've been staying at the hotel. They happened to have recently acquired an old junker boat to fix up and sell. Now a lot of the guys here at the marina are going to do a "barn raising" together to make the boat a home again for them. You can help out too if you want.
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| Will and Kate's boat before the fire. |
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| After the fire. |
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| Will and Kate |
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- This was scary, and living here has some more risk than on land, but we plan to stay at the marina because our life here is worth it. We want to learn more ways to manage the risk.
- We're going to hold fire safety classes at the marina organized by one of the more experienced liveaboards. For this training, they want my power consumption spreadsheet, which I use to make 100% sure that I'm not overloading any circuits. Always keep your current usage 20% less than capacity! I've been doing that since the beginning.
- Frequently check the temperature of the electrical connections, particularly the 50 amp power inlet. If its hot, time to replace those cables.
- My new plan for all the fire extinguishers (5). I have on board : in a serious fire, use them to clear a path of escape, not to save the boat.
- Alice and I are going to do escape fire drills.
- I'm installing all new smoke detectors.
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