Boat fire at Fradley

AN ELECTRICAL fault in a narrowboat caused a boat fire as it was moored at Fradley Junction, that required the fire fighters to extinguish.

It was wiring behind the lining of the boat that shorted and ignited, with the boater using his fire extinguishers to attempt to control it, but being behind the lining they had little effect so he called the fire fighters, Alan Tilbury reveals.

Severely damaged

Three separate crews arrived, and quickly doused the fire, but left the interior severely damaged as when they arrived the fire was 'well alight'. (Photo by Ralph Freeman.)

The fire crews tackled the interior fire with breathing apparatus and soon had it under control.  However the interior is so badly damaged that the owner had to make other living arrangements.

A different matter

The fire started during the day whilst the owner was present, but the fire people pointed out that as the boat had no smoke alarm, it would have been a different matter if it had started in the night whilst he was asleep.  Even then he suffered from smoke inhalation.

After the incident a spokesman for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service urged boat owners to ensure they have smoke alarms fitted.