The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-09-04
FIRE FIGHTING AT SEA
Methods Of Extinguishlng Flames
on Board Ships.
RIGID DISCIPLINE THE RULE.

When the Alarm ls Sounded Ever
Member OF tho Grow Has His Static
and Carries Out the Particular Out
intrusted TO Him.
OF all disasters that can befall
ship none Is more dreaded by III
mariner than fire at.eea, Indeed, th
annals of Lloyd's record few create
ocean tragedies and, be II said. N
more conspicuous instances OF gal
lantry and heroic effort than those con
nected with ships atire.
No wonder, then. In view OF tn
dreadful possibilities Of an outbrcal
Of tire Oh board. that thorough knowl
edge Of the proper steps to be takel
In extinguishing the flames at the GU,
set or at least holding them In chccl
IL expected OF every officer from th,
captain downward.
Most vessels are nowadays ilttes
with hydrants. several ON each deck
aud in the case OF large liners hos,
10 kept In handy places, ready TO b
attached to the hydrants at o mo
ment's notice. Moreover, every larg,
passenger boat carries a number q
portable extinguishers which can b,
strapped On a mans back. The spra,
from these Is, Of courac. thin. but yer,
effective In subduing small outbreak,
where the Ore has not secured too arn
q hold.
Fire drill forms q weekly feature II
the routine ON every ocean liner. Ev
cry member Of the crew literally, from
captain to cabin boy, has his ar,
station" allotted to him. al which
when the signal b given. he takes his
position and carries out the particular
duty intrusted to him.
When an actual outbreak occurs the
are alarm Is II possible avoided, 30 as
to prevent panic among the passengers.
Word 10 passed quietly around. the pas
sengers being kept IN ignorance as
long as possible. In fact more than
one fire at sea has been extingulshed
without any suspicion on the part Of
the passengers that the outbreak was
other than an imaginary one engineer
cd By the officers TO give the passengers
chance Of seeing what could be done
in the event OF the real thing occurring.
In many cases, Of course. the passcn.
gers have TO be informed, but the news
is always broken as lightly as possible
and some special entertainments con-
cert, a dance. theatfcals, and 10 on--is
got up TO allay any natural feeling OF
nervous anxiety. or course II the fire
shows signs Of becoming unmanage-
able the boats are got ready and swung
out In case II appears necessary to
abandon the ship.
Every boat on large liners is kept
fully provisloned, food sufficient for
several days being contained In air and
water tight tanks,
The worst fires at sea are those
which cannot easily be got at. These
usually occur amid the cargo In the
lower holds and are often spontaneous
In their origin. In such cases II 10
highly dangerous to open the hatches.
The fire, which may have been smol.
dering for days, will naturally burst
into blaze as soon as the air Is nd.
mitted.
The proper course is to exclude the
air In every possible way; consequently
even the ventilators are stopped up.
II the holds are fitted with steam
pipes, the steam Is at once turned Oh;
otherwise holes are cut In the deck,
Just large enough to admit the nozzIes
Of the fire hose, and water is vigorous.
ly pumped into the hold.
In one form Of extinguishing 40.
paratus, instead Of steam or water,
fumes are injected into
The hold, the fumes being generated
In a machine specially fitted for thht
purpose. This injection method Is
highly effective and rarely fails II the
pipes are properly placed In each hold.
rhe steam or fumes are turned on
rom tho upper deck.
II fire breaks out in the hold aud
assumes such dimensions that steam
Injection Is powerless to check It, the
'essel II. when possible, got into shall
ow water and, II necessary, beached.
In any case the sea cocks Of the par
ocular hold are opened and the hold
lllowed to fll with water. This can
lsually be done with very little fear
Il the vessel laundering, as modern |
,uilt ships are divided into many CON-
'artments separated by strong water
light bnlkhends OF steel or iron. Such
, the buoyancy Of vessel 80 con-
tructed that instances have been
nown of craft remaining afioat with
My one or two of these compartments
ny. 9 -
II the burning bolu Is a very large
ne sud bg flooding II with water
here is dahger Of the vessel founder
lg. the cargo In another hold Is
brown overheard or "jettisoned," as
is called ut sea, TO counteract the
teigit OF water admitted into the first
old. As last resource, the vessel,
In dock or shallow water, Is scut-
ed by opening the ser cocks. This has
cen done more than once in Tilbury
ocks. @G All
we seldom hear nowadays of lrc