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.
Image Credit
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miahmdparash says
Hello
It’s a nice article it will help my research.
Thanks
Manibhaarthi Arulnathan says
it is very useful notes, thanks lot
Mukul Naharia says
it was really helpful…especially about the spare part carriage req.
alfredo ibarbia says
good day, what is the minimum number of firemans outfit required on offshore platform? tks
jay pantaleon says
Are fireman’s outfit onboard need to do service annually?
Anish says
It will depend on the type of FFV.
FFV 1: 4 nos.
FFV 2: 8 nos.
FFV 3: 10 nos.
(Minimum nos. required)
Anish says
Yes
Topu says
could you please refer the SOLAS reg number from where u got this number of scBA vsl need to carry
Thanks in advance
atif ahmad says
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 ..
Gregg says
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?
John says
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.?
John says
how many fire stations or fire locker is required on a vessel more than 4000 GRT/.?
Anish says
IT will be SOLAS Reg. II-2/17.3
Anish says
there can be two fire stations, one at port and one at starboard side of the accommodation.
Anish says
Depending upon the class notations, there can be two fire stations.
Galin says
Is the hood under the helmet required by any regulations
Anish says
Yes.
GH says
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?
Arden says
“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.
choi says
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.
Guillermo says
How soon do you have to wear a fireman suit according to SOLAS?
Anish says
@Guillermo: There no specific timing mentioned in SOLAS
emt certification says
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.
Shoeb Khan says
The SCBA should wear outside of fireman suit or inside ?
Anish says
@Shoeb: Inside the firefighters outfit hood.