Boat Fire @ Moreton Isl.

[REEL ACTION]

Hi all,
I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what caused the fire on a boat over at moreton on sunday just gone,it was between bulwer and tangers,not that I wish that on anyone just interested to hear what happened :)

[The-easyrider]

Dont know what started the fire but we were at curtain when I noticed smoke coming from a boat about 1k away so we up anchor and raced over to see if we could help . Checked out around the boat nobody in water and if some one was on board you could not get near so we contacted vmr . Owner wasn't onboard he was in cowen cowen

[Reel Magic]

What sort of boat was it, is it a Yalta craft?

My mate was also over at Curtain and raced over, contacted VMR and then the Police contacted my mate for the GPS points.

Ken said it burnt to the water line. Poor buggers, not what you need right on Xmas either, my thoughts go out to you.

Cheers Ryan.

[REEL ACTION]

thanks for the pics easy rider and i`m glad no one was onboad or injured.On a better note did you do any good ay curtain if so what and what with.

cheers!

[Brumby]

Poor bugger! 80's or early 90's Mustang 2400, looks like the sterndrive version from the photos.

I don't suppose anyone knows what caused the fire yet, must say though the state of the wiring on most older boats gives me the willies. A dead short across 12V can generate plenty of heat.

My current boat seems to have been wired professionally, but a previous centre console was a nightmare - surprised to this day that we didn't go up in smoke too.

[The-easyrider]

That must have been your mate I could hear on the radio while I was checking around the boat for people , by the time I looked back up there was about ten boats in atendence .Bribie vmr told me that someone had all ready contacted Redcliff. Didn't do any good at curtain we had just arived when the fire started we fished another spot earlier for only a few small squire.

[oldboot]

no doubt about it fibreglass boats burn well:'( .

It would have to be electrical wouldn't it?

I'm still gob smacked that a boat worth tens of thousands could be wired in a dodgy manner....... but aparantly sooooo many are.

If the boat was unatended........ why wasnt the electrical isolated..........anchor light neede may be......... could be a good case for a battery powered LED anchor light.


Just as amatter of interest how many boats are fitted with a battery isolator?

The whole electrical thing seems to be a grudge expense for many.

I supose you get that!!

cheers

[imnotoriginal]

Was there when he was loading what was left on the barge thursday. He said noone knew for sure but an electrical fault was the suspect. It was a mustang. Poor bugger.
Joel

[tunaticer]

I don't think we should jump the gun and declare it is a wiring problem as there are many other possibilities out there as well. Could be a ciggie lighter left in the sun, a shiny reflective surface aiming concentrated sunlight at a easily lit substance or it could also be an oily cotton rag stuffed in a corner that has got over-hot too. A good mate suffered close to a hundred thousand dollars damage to his workshop a few weeks ago from a cotton linseed oil soaked rag self igniting when not in a overly hot environment.
Electrical fault is likely but we all are very complacent with other sources of ignition at times too.

Gotta feel for the guys loss tho......coulda been a bigger loss too if they were on board.

Jack.

[oldboot]

Fair enough about jumping to conclusions but some of the mentioned posible causes of ingnition are a bit far fetched.

oily rag........only reactive ( polimerising) oils will spontaneously combust...... most of these are plant derived and mostly used in traditional timber finishing....linseed and tung are the main culprets.....to my knoweledge none of the common nut oils willt and most of the cooking oils have a very low suseptability.......mineral oils don't polermreise.
Plant derived oild used in wood finishing do spontaneously combust in rags and very easily and very relliably. Havnt had it happen to me but I know people who have had close calls and there is a video doing the rounds that shows it very graphicly.
Why would there be a linseed oil soaked rag in a fibreglass boat?

Lighter in the sun.........hmm myth busters should have a go at this one..... if this was the case we'd have cars burning every day from this cause..... and the law suits..... you wouldnt be able to buy the Things.

shiny metal... dont think so.... unless it was a parabolic mirror.


Yeh I know I'm being picky....... but most of this sort of "accident" has a much more simple cause.

Boats and cars both burn very well, The three best causes are gas, petrol and electrical. so we need to be particulrly carefull of those things.

cheers