In order to extinguish a fire, it is important to attack the root of the fire. In order to approach the seat of the fire, adequate protection is required from heat and smoke. For this reason, fireman outfit is used on board ships to fight the emergency fire. There are certain rules and regulations to be followed while carrying fireman’s outfit on ships.
The fire fighter outfit is mandatory on every ship. The outfit consists of the following things:-
1) Breathing apparatus
2) Water resisting clothing
3) Safety shoes
4) Hand Gloves
5) Rigid Helmet
6) Electric intrinsically safe hand lamp that lasts for about three hours duration
7) Fire Axe
8) A strong fire proof line
9) A belt for carrying Auxiliary equipment
As per SOLAS
According to Chapter II-2, regulation 10.10.2, the minimum number of fire fighter outfit required on board are as follows:-
1) All the ships must have at least 2 fire fighter’s outfits
2) Additional fire-fighter’s outfit will be needed for passenger vessels depending on the design of the ship; i.e. length of passenger spaces, number of decks, vertical zones and number of passengers etc.
3) For tanker ships, additional two numbers of fire fighter’s outfit should be kept onboard
The fire fighter outfit is stored in the fire control room and in places that are easily accessible during emergencies.
Requirement for Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) used in Fire Fighter Outfit
1) The capacity of air bottle should be at least 1200 liters.
2) It should be capable of working 30 minutes & provided with one face mask.
3) Fire proof line with the snap hook of at least 3 meters should be there and must have enough length to reach any part of the space to be entered. The line should have a breaking strength of 500 kg.
4) Adjustable safety belt or harness made of fabric.
5) It must have a b- pass valve.
6) It should have a pressure gauge with an anti bursting orifice in a high pressure air supply system.
7) Maximum weight should not increase above 19 kg including lifeline, safety belt, and harness.
8) Spare cylinders should be available of full 2400 liters of free air.
9) For ships carryings 5 sets or more, the total spare capacity of free air is 9600 liters or if charging facility is available, free air is 4800 liters.
10) It must give an audible warning when 20 % of air is left in the bottle.
11) Operating instructions should be present near the apparatus.
12) Marking of maker & year of manufacturer.
13) Maximum pressure should about 180-200 bars.
14) SCBA cylinders should be hydraulic pressure tested at intervals not exceeding 5 years and hydrostatic test date must be permanently marked on the bottles.
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Hello
It’s a nice article it will help my research.
Thanks
it is very useful notes, thanks lot
it was really helpful…especially about the spare part carriage req.
good day, what is the minimum number of firemans outfit required on offshore platform? tks
Are fireman’s outfit onboard need to do service annually?
It will depend on the type of FFV.
FFV 1: 4 nos.
FFV 2: 8 nos.
FFV 3: 10 nos.
(Minimum nos. required)
Yes
could you please refer the SOLAS reg number from where u got this number of scBA vsl need to carry
Thanks in advance
how to calculate the capacity of the air botle as u said it should be 1200litres and in between 180-200 bars..
normally we use scba cylinder with 300 bar nd as per solas cylinder pressure should not be less than 90% of the capacity ..
Can not find anywhere in Solas or ffe code required number of fire fighter outfits depending on GT of the Vessel. It’s only that two are required. From where author took this regulations?
I would like to clarify this phrase “The fire fighter outfit is stored in the fire control room and in places that are easily accessible during emergencies.”
Does this mean that there should be two fire stations 1 being the Fire Control Room and the other is somewhere else which is easily accessible during emergies.?
how many fire stations or fire locker is required on a vessel more than 4000 GRT/.?
IT will be SOLAS Reg. II-2/17.3
there can be two fire stations, one at port and one at starboard side of the accommodation.
Depending upon the class notations, there can be two fire stations.
Is the hood under the helmet required by any regulations
Yes.
Gregg says
August 4, 2018 at 5:22 pm
Can not find anywhere in Solas or ffe code required number of fire fighter outfits depending on GT of the Vessel. It’s only that two are required. From where author took this regulations?
“normally we use scba cylinder with 300 bar nd as per solas cylinder pressure should not be less than 90% of the capacity ” Where can you find this in SOLAS? Thanks for the anticipated reply.
Please help me for clarification as followings;
As per SOLAS, total 4set of Fireman’s outfit are required therefore, also 2set of fire Fireman’s outfit to be required for Helicopter firefighting. it usually kept in Mid. store. so, is it okay to keep 2set in Fire Lockers(one set for each fire locker) and 2set in Mid. store for helicopter or we have to add 2 more Fireman’s outfit for helicopter operation except 4set in FL.
How soon do you have to wear a fireman suit according to SOLAS?
@Guillermo: There no specific timing mentioned in SOLAS
Firefighters play a key role in disaster relief, even when the disaster does not involve fire. You might be dispatched to hazardous materials disasters, cleaning up oil and chemical spills.