Approx 540 words

                                                    A Boat Fire in Alaska

    The fishing villages of Alaska often experience a number of accidental boat fires with the resulting cost in lives and property. Recently my neighbor had stepped aboard his 34 fishing foot boat and attempted to start the engine. There was a terrific explosion  which blew him through the top of the cabin. Fortunately he landed in the water alongside the dock which extinguished his flaming clothing. Weeks later when he returned from the hospital burn unit I asked what had happened. He replied "Well, I pushed the start button and everything started but the engine".  His humor caused our local fishermen including myself to think more about safety, especially those of us with gas engines.

    A few weeks later I slid open the door to my fishing boat "Klondike's" cabin. There was a strong odor of gasoline! I thought, Oh no! that carburetor float valve is stuck again! My twenty six foot gillnet boat had been lying at anchor in a small lagoon overnight with a strong wind blowing. Her shallow V bottom caused her to roll constantly and with a stuck float valve every roll squirted a small amount of gasoline from the carburetor into the bilge because of it's gravity feed.

     Klondike's four cylinder Universal gas engine was reliable but this had happened before under similar circumstances and was a real safety concern. I had always solved the problem temporarily by rapping on the carburetor with a wrench which freed up the stuck float. During a conversation in a local pub another fisherman who had a Universal gas engine mentioned that I should build a small shelf above the engine, fill a gallon jug with carbon tetrachloride or other fire extinguishing liquid and secure it to the shelf with a piece of grocery store string. The idea being that a regular fire extinguisher didn't have enough volume to put out a gasoline fire while a deluge of a gallon of carbontet might be more effective.

      I thought it was an excellent idea and installed a shelf directly over the engine and placed on it a gallon glass jug full of carbontet which was then available. After opening Klondike's cabin door that morning I waited a few minutes for the fumes to dissipate then stepped into the cabin, picked up a wrench and leaned over the engine to whack the carburetor. I was still smoking then and had a Ronson cigarette lighter in my shirt pocket. As I leaned over the engine the lighter fell out and landed upside down on the engine base. There was a small spark, an explosive "whoomp!" and a gush of flame as the fumes in the bilge ignited.

      Reacting to the heat and flames I shielded my eyes with my arm while reaching for the jug on the shelf. Giving it a pull to break the string, I dropped it on top of the engine where it shattered, instantly snuffing out the fire. Unlike some of my friends who survived boat fires, I was fortunate to get away with only singed hair and eyebrows  and a

mess of broken glass to clean up. I then decided to (1) Replace the carburator and (2) give up smoking.