[Psml] Flare and Fire Extinquisher practice

[Dick Remski]

Dayton Sail and Power Squadron in Ohio has done one of each event this
summer.  The easiest was the fire extinguisher training which was hosted by
a local township fire department at their training facility. We brought old
(perhaps no longer serviceable) fire extinguishers and they lit pans of
kerosene. We each got to put out burns with dry chemical, foam and CO2
extinguishers and they provided each of us with a certification form that we
had completed hands on fire extinguisher training. (Note that this is one of
the skills needed on your BOC Passport). I was surprised to see that one old
extinguisher I brought off my boat that was dated 1986 worked fine! 

Flare demo was much more demanding, especially since the City of Dayton had
experienced a serious fireworks accident with multiple injuries in the
1980s. We had to provide: 1. certificate of liability insurance (available
through national) 2. purchase permits (for use of a city lakeside park and
fire department permit for fireworks display) 3. hire a licensed fireworks
exhibitor (to launch the aerial flares) and 4. have fire department
personnel on site. Our total cost was about $250.  We lit hand held flares,
orange smoke and had several aerials launched by the exhibitor. We opened it
with a briefing of flare carriage requirements as a function of boat class.


Orion, manufacturer of flares and launchers, sent a rep who provided several
active devices at no charge for the demonstration. 

Hope this helps some.

D/Lt/C Dick Remski, JN
Administrative Officer
USPS D/24

-----Original Message-----
From: psml-bounces at usps.org [mailto:psml-bounces at usps.org] On Behalf Of
rdaybell at earthlink.net
Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 12:58 PM
To: rremski at woh.rr.com
Cc: Darrel Wallace; Tim Hagan; United States Power Squadrons Mailing List
Subject: [Psml] Flare and Fire Extinquisher practice

Our squadron would like to set up a Flare shoot and fire extinguisher
practice session for our members to gain some hands on experience with these
safety devices using expired flares.  We understand that these type events
have taken place elsewhere in the country and would appreciate hearing about
the process to get permissions from the appropriate agencies to do the
practice.  Also the flare manufacturer representatives to contact for
assistance with such an event.

R.D. Daybell
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