There are few places on board with a bigger fire risk than the galley.
A long day in the galley was about to come to a close as the weary chef did a final wipe of the counters. Just about to head down to bed, he was suddenly startled to see wisps of smoke streaming out from under the door of a little-used part of the galley. Opening the door, he discovered smoldering pizza boxes. They had been stored near heat lamps, but the lamps never should have been turned on. “What the hell…,” he thought, as he hastily got on the radio and notified the bridge.
A deckhand appeared almost instantly. With the fire quickly escalating, he attempted to use the HI-FOG system to little avail. Another crew member tried to clear the surrounding area of flammable materials as the deckhand grabbed a foam extinguisher and doused the boxes and area around the lamps. More crew turned up and managed to shut off the galley’s electrical systems and ventilation. Within six minutes of the chef spotting the smoke, the situation was fully under control. If the chef hadn’t noticed the smoke before he left the galley, though, the outcome could have been far worse.
This lightly dramatized worst-case scenario is based on a real-life fire that was reported to CHIRP Maritime, an anonymous incident-reporting program. While the CHIRP team praised the well-trained crew’s teamwork and efficiency, they brought up a few points where there could have been improvement. Using the radio to notify the responding crew worked in this case, but the chef should have sounded the fire alarm, including a loud vocal alarm if fitted, to alert everyone. And if the ventilation had been stopped, the HI-FOG system may have been more effective, they say.
At the heart of the vessel and packing heat, literally, the galley is one of the riskiest areas on board for a fire. Heat lamps, powerful enough to ignite or melt materials without direct contact, are certainly one of the culprits, and in this particular case, they had been inadvertently switched on when the galley was cleaned. “A minimum distance warning sign should be positioned near any heat lamp so that flammable material cannot be heated to combustion, or a suitable guard should be placed around the lamp to provide a physical barrier that meets the minimum safe distance if applicable,” CHIRP published in its Superyachts Feedback May 2024 newsletter.
Probably the biggest concern in the galley is an oil or grease fire. Cooking oils will auto-ignite at 750 to 815 degrees Fahrenheit (400 to 435 degrees Celsius). Chefs should ensure that oils don’t spill or overheat and they should have covers available for deep fat fryers, recommends Resolve Academy, a firefighting training facility for crew in Fort Lauderdale. Keeping fan ducts clean of fatty deposits is also good practice for prevention, as “a common cause of galley fires is poor housekeeping,” says Chauncey Naylor, director of Resolve Academy.
Veteran yacht chef Beverly Grant says housekeeping issues can be exacerbated by high turnover among freelance chefs, particularly those unfamiliar with working on yachts. Beverly now runs a crew placement agency in Fort Lauderdale for all crew but is known as a chef specialist. “Especially during Covid-19, I got emergency calls almost daily for a replacement chef because they picked up a guy on the dock and he didn’t know what he was doing,” she says. “So, yes, uncleanliness is a big factor.”
But an even bigger factor, Beverly says, is not paying attention. The galley should never be left unattended, even for a minute, when frying, grilling, boiling or broiling. She recounts the story of a chef who just turned his back and his skillet ignited. In that case, he was able to put a lid on it and throw it overboard, but she is a fan of fire blankets in these instances. Chauncey agrees: “Fire blankets are effective in smothering a cooking oil fire; never put water on a cooking oil fire!” He also recommends Class K portable extinguishers and hood systems.
The other type of galley fire is electrical. The area should be subject to regular electrical safety inspections and chefs should never use appliances with worn or frayed cords. Bottom line, Beverly says, is to “be proactive, check out all your equipment, keep on top of cleanliness and pay attention.”
If the worst-case does happen, you’ll want to have a well-trained crew. “Galley fires are normally contained to begin with,” says Chauncey, whose academy has programs that teach crew tactics on board to stop a fire safely. “Training and practice with portable equipment is the best preparation and defense in stopping a galley fire from spreading. If you can’t control a fire in the incipient stage, a closed door will contain it and allow you time to consider the next steps.”