The team was tasked to the boat park slipway this morning to meet the lifeboat towing in a speedboat whose outboard had caught fire to the North of Ballard Down.
The fire had been extinguished by the time the speedboat was moored alongside the Council jetty, but two DWFR appliances attended from Swanage Fire Station to cool down the engine which was still smoking and to prevent reignition.
The CG team monitored the sea for oil and/or fuel pollution from the damaged engine (one of the MCA's goals is 'cleaner seas') and spoke with the two occupants once they were safely ashore to check their welfare and discuss safety considerations and to help them with arrangements to recover the boat back to Poole.
It seems the pair had taken the right precautions including disconnecting the fuel tanks and moving them into the bow of the boat, as far away from the fire as possible. Both wore life jackets and had started to fight the fire but were prepared to evacuate the vessel had the situation worsened.
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