When a fire starts you report it to the officer of the deck first, then extinguish it rapidly. Active desmoking is applied only to fires involving primarily class ALPHA and class CHARLIE materials, and it is carried out before the fire is extinguished.
What the rule requires
Fire is a constant potential hazard aboard ship, and the standing duty is to take all possible measures to prevent one from starting. Once a fire has started, two actions follow in a fixed order: report the fire to the officer of the deck, then extinguish it rapidly NAVEDTRA 14057 Ch. 4 — Fire-Fighting Fundamentals. An answer that has you complete the attack and report afterwards fails on the sequence, and an answer offering only the report is incomplete.
The order carries weight because delay compounds the casualty. A fire can cause more damage than the initial casualty if it is not immediately extinguished, and it can cause the loss of a ship even after the original damage has been repaired or minimized. Fire also frequently starts in conjunction with other damage from storms, accident or enemy action, so the fire problem and the damage control problem are worked together.
What sets the tactics
No single attack fits every space. Three features of the individual fire drive the tactical decision: the type of material burning, the ease with which the fire can be isolated, and the location of the compartment it is in NAVEDTRA 14057 Ch. 7 — Fire-Fighting Tactics. Fire parties and repair lockers are trained against a variety of situations for that reason. Certain practices still apply to every fire, and a properly trained in-port fire party or attack team may be the difference between a small easily controlled fire and one that threatens the entire ship NAVEDTRA 14057 Ch. 7 — Summary.
Classes, smoke and ventilation
Class ALPHA fires occur in ordinary combustible materials: wood, cloth, paper, upholstery and similar materials NAVEDTRA 14057 Ch. 13 — Glossary.
Smoke and heat are removed from the smoke control zone between the inner smoke boundary and the outer smoke boundary by active desmoking, worked before extinguishing the fire, to aid fire-fighting efforts and reduce smoke spread in the ship. It is applied only for fires that involve primarily class ALPHA and class CHARLIE materials. Both halves of the definition decide questions: the timing, and the class restriction. Shift the scenario to a fuel fire and active desmoking is off the table.
An air change introduces a volume of air into a compartment equal to the volume of the compartment while simultaneously removing an equal volume. Because of mixing, only 65 percent of the air originally in the compartment is removed in one air change, so one change does not leave a clear compartment.
An air lock is a shipboard passageway with a quick-acting watertight (QAWT) door on either end. Only one door is opened at a time, to prevent the flow of air from a pressurized part of the ship to an unpressurized area. Air locks are also fitted to allow purging of contaminated air. A hose team that opens both doors to move faster has given up the pressure boundary.
Ventilation has completed one air change of a smoke-filled compartment. Is the compartment clear?
No. One air change removes only 65 percent of the air originally in the compartment, because the incoming air mixes with what is already there. Roughly a third of the original atmosphere remains after a single change, so an answer offering "the compartment is fully ventilated" or "100 percent" is wrong on the definition itself.
Who does what on scene
- Accessman. Opens doors and hatches and clears routes as necessary to provide access to the fire, when directed by the scene leader. The direction requirement is the testable half; access is a directed action, not an initiative of the hose team.
- AFFF station operator. Ensures there is a constant supply of AFFF to the hose team for fire fighting.
- Fire marshal. Index locator 1-9 NAVEDTRA 14057 Ch. 13 — Ewarp, 8-20.
Equipment and the AFFF plant
Nearly every moving part of the AFFF plant is an electrically driven pump, and the definitions are written so that components are told apart by construction, rating and location.
- AFFF service tanks. Rectangular or cylindrical, fabricated of 90/10 copper-nickel or corrosion-resistant steel, located inside the AFFF station. Each service tank is fitted with a gooseneck vent, drain connection, fill connection, liquid level indicator, recirculating line and an access manhole for tank maintenance.
- Transfer system. Concentrate reaches on-station service tanks through a transfer main, which is a large pipe with smaller branch connections interconnecting the AFFF service and storage tanks.
- AFFF sprinkler system. A subsystem of AFFF generating systems.
- Antiflash clothing. An antiflash hood and antiflash gloves, intended to protect personnel from transient high temperatures that may occur from the use of high explosive weapons and from being burned in a fire. Coveralls and boots are not part of it.
- Approved (for the purpose). Equipment or materials tested, evaluated and determined acceptable by a recognized testing laboratory or inspection agency, according to the requirements of a particular code or specification, for a particular purpose, environment or application. A supplier's own claim does not reach the definition.
- 3-M program. Requires testing of damage control equipment and preparation of inspection reports, improving system reliability through documented maintenance information.
Pollution prevention: what incorporation by reference does
33 CFR part 155 does not restate the standards it relies on. It incorporates them, with the approval of the Director of the Federal Register 33 CFR §155.140. For a candidate the operative constraint is the edition. To enforce any edition other than the one specified in §155.140, the Coast Guard must publish notice of change in the Federal Register and the material must be available to the public. Approved material is available for inspection at the National Archives and Records Administration and at Coast Guard Headquarters. Work the question on the edition named in the section, not on whatever edition is current in the trade.
The mappings that carry the most exam weight:
- NFPA 1405, Guide for Land-Based Fire Fighters Who Respond to Marine Vessel Fires, 2006 Edition: §§ 155.4035 and 155.4050. It is the only entry in the section serving two sections.
- NFPA 1001, 1005, 1021 and 1561: § 155.4050.
- ANSI A10.14 (1991), safety belts, harnesses, lanyards and lifelines: § 155.230.
- IMO Resolution A.535(13) and Resolution MSC.35(63), emergency towing for tankers: § 155.235.
- ASTM F1413-07, F1737-07 and F1779-08, dispersant application equipment and reporting visual observations of oil on water: § 155.1050.
- MARPOL Annex I, Regulation 12A, oil fuel tank protection: § 155.250.
- OCIMF Ship to Ship Transfer Guide (Petroleum): Second Edition 1988 for § 155.1035, Fourth Edition 2005 for § 155.5035.
- ISM Code material, Resolutions A.741(18), MSC.104(73) and A.851(20): § 155.5035.
A question offers "the Ship to Ship Transfer Guide (Petroleum)" as the standard incorporated for § 155.1035. Is that enough to answer?
Not without the edition. Section 155.1035 incorporates the Second Edition, 1988; the Fourth Edition, 2005 is incorporated for § 155.5035. Where two editions of one publication appear in §155.140, the edition is the discriminator, and a distractor will give the right title with the wrong edition.
Finding it in the book
The exam is open book, so treat the manual's index as the primary tool. The locators worth marking before you sit: fire triangle at 4-1; classes of fire at 4-2 and again at 7-1 to 7-2; effects of fire at 4-3, with gases at 4-3 and hydrogen sulfide at 4-4; extinguishing agents at 4-5 and 4-6; portable fire extinguishers at 5-1; the fire-fighter's ensemble at 5-14 and 7-11; firemain and fire-fighting systems at 6-1; halon at 4-6 and 6-14 to 6-16; hangfires and overhaul at 7-14; holes in the hull and hull repair at 8-3; free surface effect at 12-15 and 12-16, with free communication effect separately at 12-18.
Telling it apart
Absorption against adsorption
The single criterion is whether the foreign substance goes into the material or stays on it. Neither involves a chemical reaction, which is the part candidates drop NAVEDTRA 14057 Ch. 13 — Glossary.
- Absorption. Penetration of solid materials or liquids by a foreign substance, such as a chemical agent, without a chemical reaction. Misfiled case: a decontaminant taken up through the bulk of a deck covering, which candidates label adsorption because they read "surface contact".
- Adsorption. Adhesion of molecules of a foreign substance to the surface of solid materials, crevices included, or of liquids, without a chemical reaction. The established memory hook is that adsorption adheres to the outside; crevices still count as surface.
AFFF injection pump against transfer pump
Construction and rating separate the two.
- Single-speed injection pump. Permanently mounted, positive displacement, electrically driven, sliding-vane type.
- Two-speed injection pump. A positive displacement pump rated at 175 psi with a motor and a reducer, coupled together with flexible couplings and mounted on a steel base, designed to meet the demand for either a low or a high fire-fighting capability.
- Transfer pump. Permanently mounted, single-speed, centrifugal, electrically driven, provided in 360 gpm capacity. It moves concentrate through the fill-and-transfer subsystem to all AFFF station service tanks on a selective basis.
Expect a distractor with the two figures swapped.
Check yourself
You discover flames in a linen locker. Which action are you required to take?
Report the fire to the officer of the deck, then extinguish it rapidly. Both actions are required and the order is fixed. An option offering only rapid extinguishment is incomplete, and one offering only the report is incomplete.
A berthing space fire involves mattresses, upholstery and paper stores. What class of fire, and does active desmoking apply?
Class ALPHA, ordinary combustible materials such as wood, cloth, paper and upholstery. Active desmoking applies, since it is used for fires involving primarily class ALPHA and class CHARLIE materials, and it is carried out before the fire is extinguished, in the zone between the inner and outer smoke boundaries.
A hose team is held up by a closed hatch on the route to the fire. Who opens it, and on what authority?
The accessman, when directed by the scene leader. The accessman's function is to open doors and hatches and clear routes to provide access to the fire, and the direction from the scene leader is part of the definition.
Which AFFF pump is rated at 175 psi, and which is rated at 360 gpm?
The two-speed injection pump is the positive displacement pump rated at 175 psi, designed to meet demand for either low or high fire-fighting capability. The transfer pump is the single-speed centrifugal unit provided in 360 gpm capacity, moving concentrate to the station service tanks.
A chemical agent has penetrated a solid material without any chemical reaction taking place. Absorption or adsorption?
Absorption. Adsorption is adhesion of molecules to the surface of a solid or liquid, crevices included, and it likewise involves no chemical reaction, so "no chemical reaction" does not separate the two. Penetration into the material does.
Which standard is incorporated for both § 155.4035 and § 155.4050?
NFPA 1405, Guide for Land-Based Fire Fighters Who Respond to Marine Vessel Fires, 2006 Edition. NFPA 1001, 1005, 1021 and 1561 are incorporated for § 155.4050 only.
A vendor states its lifeline assembly meets the intent of ANSI A10.14. Does that make it approved for § 155.230?
No. "Approved (for the purpose)" requires that the equipment has been tested, evaluated and determined acceptable by a recognized testing laboratory or inspection agency, according to the requirements of the particular code or specification, for that purpose, environment and application. A statement of intent by the supplier does not meet the definition, and § 155.230 relies on the 1991 edition of ANSI A10.14 as incorporated.
Check your understanding
One real exam question on Firefighting, damage control, and emergency response, cited to source. No account.
Firefighting, damage control, and emergency response
Under 33 CFR §164.51, in an emergency a person may deviate from the navigation rules in that part to what extent?
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