Lost boat by removing alarm battery

A LIVE-ABOARD lost all his possessions and had his boat burnt-out as he had removed the battery from the smoke alarm.

He awoke in the night to find his narrowboat well alight and rapidly filling with toxic smoke, as his solid fuel stove was so hot it had set fire to the boat's lining, and he had previously removed the battery from his smoke alarm, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Crawling

He managed to escape only by crawling below the level of the smoke out of the boat, calling the emergency services from the towpath.

But within minutes, way before the fire service could arrive, flames filled the boat, with its interior destroyed.

Annoyed

The boater had been annoyed at the smoke alarm going off when he was preparing food, and so had removed the battery to stop it, at the same time putting himself in grave danger, as was proved.

It is accepted that it only needs a few breaths of toxic smoke to render a person  unconscious, so in the limited confines of a narrowboat, every second counts when there is a need to escape.

Life-saver

Of course, in such circumstances a smoke alarm can be a life-saver, as has only too frequently been shown.

There are now alarms fitted with a hush button that stop it from sounding for a period whilst cooking, and these are fairly cheap to buy. The recommended type is an an optical alarm with a long-life battery, a hush button and certified as meeting either BS 5446:2000 Part 1, or BS EN 14604:2005.