Bad fire on Alabama dock.

[34Hatt]

This is sad news many dead and many hurt.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/alabama-boat-dock-fire

 

[Freeebird]

Very sad. Hopefully there won’t be more fatalities.

 

[captainwjm]

Which marina?

 

[oscarvan]

Whoa, that's insane. What made it so they couldn't get away?

 

[captainwjm]

If you’ve never seen a fire at a covered marina, you would not know how intense the heat and smoke is and how the roof concentrates the heat outward to neighboring boats. Being under a roof is the same as being inside a barn. These boats, too, are mostly gasoline powered, couple that with propane, and you have floating bombs. Fire, especially in the winter, was the biggest fear I had while living aboard in Nashville. I spent many days with friends in or near Scottsboro, its a great cruising area.

 

[dottieshusband]

Jackson County Park Marina, bout 5 miles upriver from Goose Pond Colony Marina. I've never stayed there, favoring Goose Pond or Guntersville, but in general, it's pretty shallow around there. Very sad, especially the fatalities.

 

[rustybucket]

Man that is terrible, couldn't imagine..... Never thought of the covered slips being that way. Seems like a single smoke alarm located under the roof would alarm early enough for everybody to run clear or go for a swim. They just slept as the blaze grew into something inescapable.

 

[SEVEN]

Absolutely horrible. What a tragedy.

 

[Oldlaxer1]

As liveaboards, that is one of our greatest fears. We can do our best to control things on our boat but have no way of knowing how the neighbors take care of theirs. We had a fire on our dock last winter about 6 slips down from us. Fortunately we're right near the bulkhead and I heard all the commotion of the firemen coming down the aluminum ramp. I got up to see what was going on and once I saw the fire I got my wife up and dressed. We were ready to evacuate but fortunately it was a wet, calm night and they contained the fire to the boat it started on pretty quickly. We have rehearsed evac plans that I hope we never have to use. I have smoke/CO detectors that are linked in the master, the galley, and the salon. Maybe it is time to put a couple in the ER's.

This is such a tragedy and we pray for all the families involved.