Revision: Fire Prevention & Fire Fighting (Basic) — STCW Table A-VI/1-2

Revision card — STCW Code Table A-VI/1-2, Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting. Mandatory Basic Safety Training module for every seafarer; the core competence is stated plainly in the table itself — minimise the risk of fire and maintain a state of readiness to respond to emergency situations involving fire. Refresher required every 5 years for anyone with designated safety or fire-fighting duties, which in practice means almost everyone.

Fire Chemistry & Classes — Know These Cold

• The fire triangle — heat, fuel, oxygen. Remove any one side and the fire goes out; every extinguishing method works by attacking one or more sides.
• Class A — ordinary combustibles (wood, paper, textiles, most cabin/accommodation fires) — water is the primary agent
• Class B — flammable liquids (fuel oil, paints, solvents) — foam, CO2 or dry powder; never water, which spreads a liquid fire
• Class C — flammable gases — isolate the supply first if at all possible, then dry powder/CO2
• Class D — combustible metals (rare shipboard, but examined) — specialist dry powder agents only
• Electrical fires — treated as their own hazard class in IMO/UK guidance — isolate power first, then CO2 or dry powder; never water on a live electrical fire

Shipboard Fire-Fighting Organisation

• Know your muster list role cold — fire party, boundary cooling team, or emergency squad — before you ever need it under pressure
• Know the location of firefighting appliances (extinguishers, hydrants, hose reels, fixed system controls) and emergency escape routes on your own vessel without needing to think about it
• Fire and smoke detection — automatic alarm systems, and what your first actions are on hearing the fire alarm versus the general emergency alarm