[C36IA] Forwarded story about safety of fans onboard

[Walter Conner]

[from Southbound_Group on Yahoo Groups]

Hi Cruisers,
 
I thought I would share a fan story for what it's worth....
 
Back many years ago while living aboard our ketch in a small condo marina in
Clearwater, Florida, the boat next to us, an Endeavor 43, caught on fire one
morning.  When I noticed the fire, flames were already shooting out of the
companionway, igniting the bimini and sail covers.   I yelled for my wife to
call 911, grabbed a 17 pound halon extinguisher, and jumped over onto their
boat.  We were literally a fender apart.  A quick blast of the halon
extinguished the flames on the bimini and sailcover, allowing me to shoot
the remaining halon directly down the companionway, bringing the fire under
control until others brought dockside water hoses onto the boat to keep the
fire from re-igniting.  Fortunately, our neighbors were not aboard, and
nobody was hurt.  Because of local beach traffic, the fire department didn't
arrive for about 10 minutes, and continued to water down the smoldering
fire.  The boat, although it didn't sink, was declared a total loss.
 
When the fire marshals came to investigate the cause of the blaze, they
attributed it to a 12 volt fan, mounted in the salon above a sitee.  The fan
had been left on and the motor seized up, so the owners thought it was off
when they left the boat. With time, the motor windings become hot enough to
melt the plastic housing.  The hot melting plastic dripped onto the sitee
igniting the fabric and fire quickly spread throughout the cabin.
 
This tragedy could have been avoided if a low amperage in-line fuse (1 or 2
amp) had been installed where the fan connected to the boat's 12 volt
wiring.  The circuit which the fan was connected was protected by a circuit
breaker, probably a 10-15 amp breaker, and did not trip when the fan motor
seized up.  An in-line fuse would have blown, preventing the fire.
 
The next day, I installed in-line fuses to all three of our 12 volt fans.  I
would highly recommend that anyone with any 12 volt fans do the same.  It
might save your boat.
 
Cheers,
 
Glenn Tuttle
M/V Tothill
San Andres, Colombia
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