Yacht fire sparks warning for smoke alarms on floating homes

Boat owners are being warned to install smoke alarms on their vessels after a fire aboard a yacht moored in Northland this week.

Northland fire safety inspector Malcolm Langdon today warned boating families to install alarms on their "floating homes".

"Yachts and boats are no different to homes on land except that some of the dangers can be higher on board a boat," he said. "There is often only one means of escape and no smoke alarms fitted.

"Escape in most cases is by a vertical ladder to the wheelhouse or cockpit. Most of these craft sleep four or five people either at the bow or stern with lounge or galley in the centre."

Mr Langdon's comments follow a fire on Monday aboard the yacht Moko, which was moored in the Whangarei Town Basin.

The fire started in the sleeping area near the bow.

No one was aboard when the fire started and all doors within the yacht's cabin area were shut. The yacht has been moored in the marina for about two years.

Mr Langdon said the cause of the fire was electrical.

"If that fire had been earlier in the morning, say at 3am, there would have been at least two fatalities," he said.

Toxic fumes from polystyrene panels aboard the boat would have impeded the occupants' escape and could have led to their deaths.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine