Mid-County FPD reminds boaters to stay safe after 3 boat fires reported since end of June
Marie Moyer
CAMDENTON, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mid-County Fire Protection District is urging boaters get their boats serviced and to follow proper safety protocols after multiple boat fires have occurred since the end of June.
Boating incidents this summer included two boat explosions on June 27 and July 8, and a boat fire on July 13.
“We probably don’t have a lot, but over the past few weeks we’ve had several which have become very newsworthy,” Mid-County Fire Protection District Chief Scott Frandsen said.
Frandsen adds MCFPD typically responds to eight-to-10 boat fires per year.
Between the several fire departments and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, around 12 boats patrol the Lake of the Ozarks. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, there were more than 200 boat fires and explosions last year that resulted in two deaths and 100 people injured.
Fransen said the majority of boat fires are caused by issues during refueling. This includes drivers forgetting to shut their engines off or run their engine blowers when pumping gas leaving boats one spark away from an explosion. He has also seen inexperienced drivers sometimes mistaking a boat’s freshwater or waste tank as the gas tank.
“The boat’s basically a sealed environment. It’s not like our cars where they’re out in the open air,” Fransen said. “The gasoline is a liquid and it also controlled vapor, while you’re fueling the 5 minutes while the blowers are running, open those windows and doors back up to allow it to ventilate and get all those gas fumes out.”
Both Fransen and Mark Chaney — who is a boat mechanic and owner of Veterans Marine and Powersports — also highlight the importance of boat owners getting annual boat servicing before hitting the water. Chaney added that many fires are preventable with many repairs fixing faulty wiring and ignition issues.
“I will work on 400-to-500 boats a year and usually about 40 or 50 of those actually do regular maintenance,” Chaney said. “Most of the time people with aged boats don’t even know if they work and most time they don’t, the hoses that direct the air out of the boat aren’t even hooked up anymore.”
Fransen reminds lake-goers that everyone should be off the boat before refueling and life jackets as well as a fire extinguisher are a must.
“We can’t stress lifejackets enough, we know that there are sometimes cumbersome and maybe a little bit uncomfortable, but things can happen so fast out here on the water,” Fransen said.
During a boat fire, Fransen recommends evacuating and abandoning shit, a fire extinguisher should only be used if the person is confident they can safely put out the flames.
“Boats are made from completely a highly flammable material,” Fransen said. “Most of them, they’re either made from wood or fiberglass, both of which fiberglass is usually highly varnished or painted, which makes them highly flammable, it’s basically solidified gasoline.”