Warwickshire FRS have started up a 'Boat Safety Scheme' in their area following recent fires on boats. They will inspect a boat for the usual fire risks, but in addition are offering to fit a CO detector. This seems to be response to non-fire incidents where deaths have occured in boats due to CO accumulating because of either faulty equipment or ventilation. The problem is worse in boats because their total volume is much smaller than the average home, so build-up of CO is more rapid.
Other main points of the inspection scheme for boats, besides the above, are:
(1) all on the boat to know precisely where the boat is to give its location to the FRS if an incident starts;
(2) ensure your mobile phone has a fully-charged battery at all times.
These two matters follow a boat fire on Warks ground where the daughter of a boat-owner was able to get off a boat when a fire developed but was unable to give a good location - then her phone battery went down....
