Fire onboard 02 July

[JeffK]

I suffered an explosion and fire onboard a 28' Mako on 02 July. We discovered the cause of the gas in the bilge once back at the dock. A thief stole gas from the boat by removing the sending unit in the aft tank. The SOB didn't have the common courtesy to put the screws back in the unit. He just put it back in place without the screws. Once we got offshore and hit some chop I smelled gas. I throttled back and boom. It blew off the front door of the console and a round deck hatch by my feet. Fire shot up and gave me mostly 1st degree burns on my leg with a small spot of 2nd degree by my ankle. The hatch cover cut my leg and it blew off. The fire was impressive. Thanks to a great crew we put the fire out in under thirty seconds. They attacked it from both sides of the center console. Then it reignited. I had to reach into the flames to kill the engines while my crew knocked the fire back again. This was a professional boat with a trained crew. The USCG and FWC found no safety violations. I had 1 B2 and 3 B1 extinguishers in various locations on the boat. This allowed my crew to quickly grab one and attack the fire before it spread. I believe that prevented a catastrophic explosion and saved all or our lives. It's hard to believe that hitting a couple of waves hard could put that much gas in the bilge, but it did. Once we clean off the dry chem from the console wiring maybe we can find the source of the spark. My purpose for writing this is: 1. Watch out for this gas thief. His MO could kill. 2. Regs only call for 1 B2 or 2 B1s. If we only had one B2 we could not have put out this fire. And make sure the extinguishers are handy, real handy. 3. Give a good safety brief to your crew before leaving. I could not have handled this emergency alone.

[Boz]

Dayyyyyummmm! I'm sure you guys realize how lucky you were, and have given appropriate and plentiful thanks to The Man Upstairs.

Also goes to show how valuable a safety briefing is before EVERY trip, as well as having an excess of safety equipment aboard.

Hope your burns heal quickly, and any damage to the boat is repaired without too much hassle. I don't envy you having to clean up all that dry chemical. I've seen what a mess ONE extinguisher makes; I can only imagine your situation. But regardless...it beats the hell out of the alternative!

[crash1371]

Glad you are okay with minor scrap & burns and as brought out think goodness of your training. The sad think the thief will properly never know how he almost killed you and your crew over some fuel

[triumphrick]

As I move up to even bigger boats, I am constantly made aware of gear and devices that I am in need of. I only carry 1 extinguisher and now see a need for another, or two. Sorry for your lousy situation and hope both you and your boat heal quickly...

Thanks for the post

[JeffK]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. And yes, we realize we cheated death. I hugged the wife a little tighter than normal and allowed the dog up on the couch to sit by me.

[Fishinspot]

WOW, glad your still around to tell the story!!

[Birdman]

Wow!!! Pretty screwed up...

But, just another vote for Diesel oil burners!!