The National Transportation Safety Board issued a safety alert Wednesday urging greater awareness and training for land-based firefighters who may be called to fight fires aboard vessels in local ports.
The safety alert follows several NTSB investigations into deaths and injuries to firefighters. The NTSB found land-based firefighters often lack the necessary training and familiarity with vessel layouts and fire protection systems to effectively fight in-port vessel fires. They also may be unaware of how to use the structural fire protection built into most commercial vessels.
NTSB recommends fire departments that serve ports improve the safety of their firefighters when responding to vessel fires by:
• Developing training plans to ensure all firefighters understand how to fight vessel fires, including the resources needed, the best tactics, strategies and methods for communicating while on a vessel and with vessel crew, and vessel layouts
• Identifying supplemental training areas and developing a training plan and operational procedures in reference to National Fire Protection Association publication 1405: Guide for Land-Based Fire Departments that Respond to Marine Vessel Fires, and NFPA 1010: Standard on Professional Qualifications for Firefighters (formerly NFPA 1005: Standards for Professional Qualifications for Marine Fire Fighting for Land- Based Fire Fighters)
• Working in advance with local ports to organize vessel familiarization tours and to coordinate vessel firefighting response preparedness and training in conjunction with the drills and exercises required for certain vessels
• Coordinating with the U.S. Coast Guard on standard operating procedures during emergencies
• Learning from the circumstances of other in-port vessel fires to improve contingency planning.
The safety alert cites three vessel fires the NTSB has investigated that resulted in land-based firefighters injured due to the firefighters’ lack of training in vessel firefighting. Most recently, the NTSB investigated the 2023 fatal fire on the roll-on/roll-off container vessel Grande Costa D’Avorio in Newark, New Jersey.
The Grande Costa D’Avorio was docked at Port Newark when a vehicle used by shoreside workers to push used vehicles onto the vessel caught fire on an interior garage deck. While attempting to put out the fire, two land-based firefighters were unable to find their way out of one of the smoke-filled garage decks and died.
Newark Fire Division leadership directed the firefighters to actively engage the fire in the fire protection zone where the carbon dioxide gas extinguishing system had already been activated, which allowed more carbon dioxide out and more oxygen in, increasing the severity of the fire.
The NTSB found the Newark Fire Division’s lack of marine vessel firefighting training resulted in an ineffective response, led to the firefighter casualties, and contributed to the severity of the fire.