Boat explodes, Ocean Isle NC

M

msgchef

New member
Though not stated in the print article, the tv news said the users, when gassing up put the gas in a rod holder instead of the fuel tank. The boat exploded when the dock attendant instructed them to disconnect the batteries and a spark when doing so ignited the gas fumes. No one killed, but hurt. I would assume the rod led to the bilge area allowing gas to fill the voids of the boat.

http://www.witn.com/content/news/3-inju ... 05923.html
 
A buddy did this, got all the way to the ramp, almost ready to fire up, when his fishing companion convinced him to abort. On returning home, they did a thorough flush and hose job, some of it with soapy water, everything underdecks. After airing it out overnight, floorboards propped open, it was OK to run.
 
A prayer for the victims! There are many types of injuries which could have occurred including severe burns, broken bones, concussions and neurological injuries...an explosion on a boat is your worse nightmare.

I have witnessed at least a dozen explosions and fires on the water--Most were earlier in time--perhaps more inboards, less awareness ?? Some were propane and some were gasoline. One was a pressurized alcohol stove/oven.

One wonders how someone could pump gas into rod holders (if this is what really happened). But it has happened a number of times. Perhaps the is why I insist on pumping my own fuel. It also gets back to the precaution of lifting floor boards and smelling to be sure that there is no fuel in the bilge.

In this case, it would have been far more prudent to have evacuated the area--including turning off the fuel pumps, getting all persons well clear and calling the fire department to allow them to safely deal with the fuel spill. That might seem over the top--but Have seen burn center bills in the over a million dollar mark--and some not survive...Be safe.
 
Found another article:

28 gallons of fuel were pumped thru a rod holder into the bilge. A bystander suggested calling Sea Tow:

Sea Tow's Schwarz arrived and advised the pair to disconnect battery cables so a spark would not ignite the gas.

However, when they were disconnecting the cables, a spark ignited the gasoline, causing the explosion.

The two on the boat and the Sea Tow Operator were all injured.
 
It sounds like the Sea Tow operator probably wanted to stop the bilge pumps from pumping gas into the water. As anyone who has ever disconnected battery cables can attest you sometimes make contact with the other cable or any other metal causing a spark.
 
If there is any current flow at all, even disconnecting the negative first will many times create a spark. Best advice would have been for the guys to get off the boat without touching anything, and then call and let the fire department handle it!
 
I'd like to know how they managed to get to 28 gallons before they realized the gas was going in the bilge. How many six packs do you have to drink on your boat for that to happen?
 
Didn't pump any gas, but once did put the nozzle into a rod holder, immediately caught the error. I put something in those rod holders. They are right next to the gas ports.

I would say that 28 gallons of misplaced fuel always merits an emergency response. If they had called the fire department and the Coast Guard how would they have handled it?
 
Agree with Marco--the Fire dept should foam it. But irregardless they are the ones to make the decision. Coast Guard may or may not have foam. We had a very serious fire in a marina in Pensacola almost 20 years ago--and the CG fire fighting gear was minimal--and access/water was difficult for the land based fire fighters. This motivated the city of buy a specific fire boat, which would have foam, and proper water pump and monitor.

Here is Boat US's take on a similar situation, where a mechanic was bailing out the gas with pads, and static electricity set off an explosion and fire:

professional fire fighters are trained to deal with spilled fuel. According to Kenny Athing, a technician with the Fairfax County, Virginia Fire and Rescue, fire fighters would have handled the same situation by boarding the boat (in full protective gear), to assess the situation. Like the mechanic, they would shut off the battery switch to reduce the chance of sparking. Unlike the mechanic, they would have filled the bilge with foam to suppress the explosive vapors. The boat’s owner could then have contacted a private salvor to clean the foamed gasoline. The latter often will often have a compressed air pump to safely remove the gas/foam mixture.
Click to expand...

In this response it assumes that the boat has an ignition protected cut off switch and that there was no unstitched circuit---which is often not the case.

How they put 28 gallons into a rod holder?--absolute lack of situational awareness! No mention of any mitigating factors to cause their lack of concentration of the task at hand....
 
My brother is a fire dept captain in Bermerton, WA. Has been for over 25 yrs. I'll bounce this off of him and see what he says.

I do know that foam equipment is very, very rare in municipal depts. The one occasion I remember responding to a fuel truck accident and the on-scene fire commander requested foam. The only foam truck both close & available came from Boeing (Renton airport). There is a large Boeing plant there (737's) and they take off/land on their runway.
 
Mark is right about foam availability; not likely at your local FD on their response rigs. Not even at all municipal airports.

As to 28 gallons in the bilge, that would all depend on boat type, rod holder placement, and obviously, operator. On one, and only one, occasion, I did put a dose of marine Stabil into one of my rod holders. Kind of a pain to clean up, but sure safer than gas, AND I only had to do that once :oops: :roll:

It was the blue all over the cockpit sole that caught my attention. Ran dpwn into the combing tray, and down inside the cockpit. That might not happen on a different type of boat.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
"Advised the pair to disconnect battery cables so a spark would not ignite the gas. "

As other has said this almost always leads to a spark.

"How they put 28 gallons into a rod holder?-"

While on the USS BELLOWWOODS the sqiuds put aviation fuel in the water supply for the ship. Several thousand gallons. Everything we ate or drank for the rest of the cruise tasted like av-gas. 28 gallons? amateurs .
 
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