Wearing respirators and heavy protective jackets and pants, crews are preparing to extinguish a fire on a ship docked in Burrard Inlet.
It is a task that entails a long manifest of dangers.
“It’s not just fires, it’s confined spaces that we have to deal with,” said Dwayne Higgins, rescue safety leader at shipbuilder Seaspan.
“How do we get to those fires? How do we get to our people? How do we extinguish those fires? How do we get our hoses there?”
Fortunately, today is just a water disaster drill, with what Seaspan says is training coming to the West Coast for the first time.
It is a modular, land-based tug that helps train crews to fight a fire on a ship.
The ship looks a bit like a stack of containers on top of the hull of a small ship.
Gas devices shoot flames and raise clouds of smoke. Steep stairs and narrow hallways, along with protruding pipes, make movement challenging.
The rough metal furniture resembles a ship’s diesel engine, and even a kitchen or galley, prime places for flames to break out.
The fake tugboat is grounded at the District of North Vancouver’s Maplewood Fire Centre.
There, municipal fire crews and Seaspan workers are testing what a ship fire in the harbor waters could throw at them.
“It’s not just about training,” Higgins said.
“It’s about understanding how a ship operates, what’s on it, what obstacles we face and how we’re going to address them.”
North Vancouver firefighters welcome the simulator as a valuable tool to help improve safety on the busy Burrard Inlet boardwalk, a boardwalk that will likely become busier in the future.
A North Vancouver shipyard has partnered with the local fire department to implement a novel approach to safety in the busy waters of Burrard Inlet. Liam Britten got an exclusive view of the training session, which featured Seaspan tradesmen who volunteered to be the first line of defense should a fire break out on a ship still under construction.
‘Let’s do what we do’
The mock tugboat, named Seaspan Responder, has been in the works for four years, Higgins said, and the company paid $800,000 to build it.
In recent months, lifeguards have jumped on board to gain ground at sea. CBC News was granted an exclusive look at that workout on Monday.
On Monday, volunteer shipbuilders, not career firefighters, took their turn. Higgins described these merchants as a first line of defense should a fire break out.
As they gathered their equipment off the ship, Higgins explained the scenario: a fire in the ship’s galley has been burning for some time. The fire extinguishers were unable to put it out, but the flames are contained.
“Are we clear on that?” Higgins asks the assembled team, nodding and affirming.
“Okay guys, let’s do what we do.”
A pair of volunteer firefighters approach the heavy metal door with smoke billowing from it. They run a line of hoses and then spray the door.
The reaction of the water, Higgins explains, helps them know how close the flames are.
“I see some smoke! Let’s open it completely!” one shouts after putting on the mask, and then they repel the bright orange flames with a concentrated spray.
“Moving forward!” the protagonist shouts and they run closer to hell. They both kneel, sprinkle more water and light the fire.
Higgins says it wasn’t a perfect exercise, but it allowed these less experienced teams to safely learn from their mistakes.
“It’s not just about solving problems. It’s about doing it safely and taking care of each other,” Higgins said.
Firefighters say more marine resources are needed
North Vancouver District firefighters have also been using the accessory for their training.
Gunter Kramer, deputy director of training and professional development, says it has been a useful tool in improving preparedness for a land-based response to ship fires.
He explained that as things stand, Vancouver Fire and Rescue and its three firefighting boats would be called in to fight a boat fire from the water.
And while Kramer expressed gratitude for Seaspan’s tool, he maintains that more is needed to fight fires on the busy Burrard Inlet coast that separates Vancouver from the North Shore.
“This is a big challenge… and we’re just beginning to prepare for it,” Kramer said.
“Obviously, from a financial standpoint, it’s a big impact on fire departments.”
Kramer said part of the problem in Burrard Inlet is the lack of cohesion among so many agencies and governments claiming jurisdiction along the coast.
Referring to Monday’s training, Kramer said having shipbuilders trained to fight fires is valuable since they have the knowledge of what happens inside a ship under construction, and shipbuilding is a job that could start a fire.
Higgins agreed.
“We need to be able to respond quickly, do the best we can with what we have,” he said.
