Greg Fonzeno

Fire Safety Aboard Your Vessel, Part 2

BY GREG FONZENO

Last month, I addressed fire safety on your boat, especially when fueling. This month, let’s look at the carriage requirements for fire extinguishers, particularly two changes made in the past few years.

The first change was the labeling system for marine fire extinguishers. The traditional requirement of having an extinguisher labeled B-I or B-II on board, depending on the vessel’s size, was changed to the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) system of labeling — 5-B, 10-B, etc. The UL system retained the traditional letters for identifying common types of fires: A (for wood, paper or anything leaving ashes), B (for gas, oil or anything that boils) or C (electrical fire or circuit).

While having a fire extinguisher rated for an ABC fire is desirable, UL-rated extinguishers mounted on boats generally are rated B — 5-B, 10-B, etc. The numbers indicate the area of effectiveness for the extinguisher: 5-B can extinguish a 5-square-foot fire, 10-B covers 10 square feet, and 20-B covers 20 square feet. When using the A-type extinguisher, the number represents the water equivalency for this extinguisher, with 1 equaling 1.25 gallons. For example, the 5-A extinguisher is equivalent to 6.25 gallons of water.

The new fire extinguisher regulations went into effect April 20, 2022. In general, the model year of your boat will determine which fire extinguisher rule you must follow: • For model years 2018 or newer, extinguishers might need to be replaced. Extinguishers must be labeled 5-B, 10-B or 20-B. Those labeled B-I or B-II are no longer acceptable.

• For model years 2017 or older, you can keep your extinguishers labeled B-I or B-II, if they still are serviceable, but they must be changed to the current UL label when no longer serviceable. • Regardless of the model year, extinguishers cannot be more than 12 years old, according to the manufacture date stamped on them.

That last point was the second change that affects whether your fire extinguisher is counted toward your legal carriage requirement if stopped for a vessel-safety check. While fire extinguishers always have had a manufacturing date stamped on them, it wasn’t part of a safety check. But extinguishers have a shelf life of 12 years, so they now will be considered expired 12 years from that stamped date. For example, a manufacturing date of 2010 will expire Dec. 31, 2022.

A fire extinguisher for a boat must be a Coast Guardapproved, marine-type extinguisher, with the pressure gauge or indicator showing it’s charged and operable. It must have the locking pin firmly in place and a discharge nozzle that’s clean and obstruction-free and not show any visible signs of significant corrosion or damage.

To learn more about this subject and other safety topics, consider taking a boating-safety class. For information on classes, visit https://bit.ly/3TO9MFp or email flotilla22pe@gmail.com.

Greg Fonzeno is the public education officer and commander of the local U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Unit (Flotilla 22) at Allatoona Lake.

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