MARAD’s Fire Training Program for Dockside Fires

Instructors from the U.S. Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Fire Training Center in Toledo, Ohio, traveled to Duluth, MN on August 19-21st to educate local municipal fire departments in the proper response to a portside fire aboard ship. The training is an initiative by MARAD to increase awareness of landside responders to the important and unique differences of fighting a shipboard fire.

Michael Romstad, Chief Instructor from MARAD's Fire Training Center, briefs firefighters on ship's layout.

Nearly 80 municipal fire responders from departments in Duluth and Two Harbors, MN and Superior, WI attended the one-day program over a three-day period. A morning session indoctrinated fire fighters to the special considerations and hazards of quelling a shipboard fire at a municipal dock. Boarding and walk-through of a Great Lakes freighter provided a realistic view of a vessel’s various components, including the engineering area and the ship’s own fire suppression system. The boarded vessel was the steamer John Sherwin, a U.S.-flag vessel owned by the Richfield, Ohio-based Interlake Steamship Company. The U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Office in Duluth assisted in the ship tour instruction.

The program was well received by the first responders from the three ports. Captain Greg Church of the Duluth Fire Department stated, "We can’t get enough of this type of training due to the steady volume of activity in the port. We thank MARAD, the Coast Guard, Interlake Steamship Company, and the Port Authority for sponsoring this program."

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority requested the training and was a sponsor of the program. Ray Skelton, the Port Authority’s environmental and government affairs director confirmed the sentiment of the responders. "MARAD provided an excellent program for our regional firefighters. Anytime there is an opportunity to raise the shore-based training level concerning shipboard operations, we are supportive."