
DATE: Wednesday, May 14, 1997               TAG: 9705140486

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: FORT EUSTIS                       LENGTH:  106 lines

FIGHTING FIRES ON THE WATER: A SPECIAL SKILL

Standing on the bow of the massive container ship Bayamon, Bill Lloyd tends his canisters of signal smoke and stands back as the wind carries the orange and black plumes off into the blue sky.

As the wind gusts to 30 knots, Lloyd watches an Army landing craft and a tugboat slowly make their way across the James River. They pass other Ready Reserve Fleet vessels, then pull alongside the Bayamon on the port side.

As the special effects man for the day, Lloyd, a Virginia Beach firefighter, sets off the canisters of foul-smelling smoke to give the impression that the bow of the Bayamon is on fire.

Nearly 100 other firefighters have arrived to save the day, and the ship, as part of a hands-on exercise to learn the rigors of fighting shipboard fires.

Lloyd and his counterparts acted out the fire scenario Thursday aboard the Bayamon, anchored off Fort Eustis as part of the Hampton Roads Maritime Firefighting Symposium. They continued the drill Friday aboard the liquefied natural gas ship Gamma, docked at Norfolk International Terminals.

For six years, East Coast firefighters, Coast Guard personnel, hazardous materials experts, harbor pilots and others have attended the symposium to learn the special skills required to fight fires on the water.

``We explain to them that shipboard firefighting is different than structural firefighting,'' Lloyd said. ``First off, you have to bring everything with you.''

For example, Lloyd said, if a Norfolk hotel were on fire, firefighters would arrive and enter the building. If they needed anything, they could just walk outside to get it.

But if a ship catches fire in Hampton Roads Harbor, firefighters who speed to the scene on boats have to carry all their equipment with them, then take the time to hoist or haul the equipment aboard the vessel.

That requires a lot of planning, Lloyd said.

Land-based firefighters have the luxury of being able to get out of a building if a blaze gets too hot to handle. ``If you have a problem inside, you can jump out a window,'' Lloyd said.

But that's not an option for those on the water, he said. ``Here, it's a long way out and a long way back.''

The four-day symposium started with two days of classes touching on complex subjects ranging from marine terms and construction to U.S. Coast Guard operations to contingency planning.

But the hardest lessons for the men and women who participated in the exercises were learned as they participated in the choreographed chaos aboard the ships.

They learned to deal with logistical snags as they loaded two fire engines, a salvage truck and an ambulance onto the landing craft, hauled fire hoses over the Bayamon's railing onto the rusty deck, then linked the hoses that carried water to the bow of the ship.

On Friday, they learned the importance of communication aboard the Gamma. The engine room, deep inside the belly of the ship, was filled with smoke, and firefighters found themselves dependent on their two-way radios.

The scenario included a search for a missing member of the mock crew, a visit by the Red Cross and a mock evacuation of the terminals by the Port Police.

The symposium was hosted by the Hampton Roads Maritime Incident Response Team, a group specializing in maritime and waterfront blazes. The group is the first of its kind on the East Coast and includes firefighters from Hampton Roads and personnel from the Navy, Coast Guard and state Department of Emergency Services.

Referred to as MIRT, the team was started by the Hampton Roads Maritime Association and is now under the Virginia Port Authority. The team oversees its own arsenal of fire-fighting weapons, including fire pumps that can pour 3,000 gallons of water per minute on a blaze.

``Eventually, we'd like to have four or five pumps, located all over Hampton Roads,'' said Bill Burket, head of the MIRT team. Burket, also a Virginia Beach firefighter, helped form the team about seven years ago and served as director of the symposium.

Burket said that every year, the practical exercises aboard the vessels are taken a step further. Last year, for example, participants tried to load a fire engine on an Army landing craft, but the tide was too low.

Teamwork was a lesson some of the firefighters said they found especially valuable.

``One of the (most important) things here is the cooperation within the units,'' said Ricardo Barker, a firefighter from Panama. Barker, fellow firefighter Oliver Bruce and marine pilot Arcelio Hartley said they made the trip from Panama to better prepare themselves to deal with potential shipboard fires in the Panama Canal.

``What we're looking for is any area that will enhance our operations down there,'' Barker said.

When the Panamanians take possession and control of the canal in 1999, they will inherit responsibility for fighting fires and other ship-related problems.

``Anything we get here, we'll be able to share with out counterparts (down there),'' Bruce said. ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN photos

An instructor aboard the freighter Bayamon watches smoke bombs fog

the bow compartment at the Hampton Roads Maritime Firefighting

Symposium near Fort Eustis. For six years, firefighters have

attended the seminar to learn the skills required to fight fires on

the water.

Firefighters, above, move a fire truck onto an Army watercraft

during a seminar dedicated to the skills required for fighting fires

on the water. At left, firefighters haul equipment aboard a

mothballed freighter moored in the James River near Fort Eustis. If

a ship catches fire in Hampton Roads Harbor, firefighters who speed

to the scene on boats have to carry all their equipment with them,