Fire Prevention and Firefighting
What this domain tests
The fire triangle, fire classes, fixed and portable systems, detection, and the machinery-space fire scenario. A chief engineer is expected to know when to fight and when to seal, how fixed CO2 or foam systems release, why fuel is isolated first, and how the fire plan and boundary cooling work. Croatian panels like a walk-through of a main engine fuel pipe fire.
Core rules and concepts
- Fire chemistry. Triangle: fuel, oxygen, heat; remove one leg. Classes: A solids, B liquids, C gases, D metals, and electrical fires treated as a separate hazard. Extinguisher selection follows the class - water is wrong for B and for live electrical equipment.
- Detection. Smoke, heat and flame detectors, the fire alarm panel, and the requirement to keep detection circuits monitored and tested. Detector head spacing and the loop-isolation procedure during hot work.
- Fixed systems. CO2 for machinery spaces with alarm, delay, and personnel evacuation before release; foam for tankers; water spray and sprinkler; the local application system for engine room and boiler fronts. Know the release controls, the CO2 room, and the quantity/leakage checks.
- Portable equipment. Extinguisher inspection, pressure gauge, seal, annual servicing, and the mounting position.
- Machinery space fire procedure. Sound the alarm, notify the bridge, stop the fuel supply, trip ventilation, evacuate and account for personnel, boundary cool, and only then consider the fixed system. Never release CO2 with people inside.
- Hot work. Permit to work, fire watch, gas-freeing and testing, removal of combustibles, and a post-work watch period.
- Fire control plan. Displayed, duplicated in a weathertight container outside the accommodation, and known to all officers.
Worked example
A fire is reported at the main engine fuel filter, with flame visible and the engine still running. Reasoning: fuel-fed fire will not be extinguished by portable extinguishers alone. Action: alarm and bridge notification, stop the engine and the fuel booster pump, close the quick-closing valve, trip the ventilation, evacuate and muster, boundary cool, and if not controlled within a short period release the fixed CO2 after confirming the space is empty. The order of actions, not the extinguisher type, earns the marks.
Traps that cost marks
- Releasing CO2 before mustering and accounting for personnel.
- Using water on an oil or electrical fire.
- Forgetting to stop fuel and ventilation as the first technical actions.
- Not mentioning boundary cooling.
- Treating the fire control plan as an optional document.