The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Install an Engine Space Fireport

One of the most common places for a fire to start on a boat is in the engine space, and if that happens the last thing we want to do is open an access panel to fight it, and thereby get a face full of fire, not to speak of accelerating the fire by giving it oxygen.

The answer is a fireport like the one I just installed on our J/109.

Amazing to me that Tillotson Pearson did not install one when they built the boat comparatively recently in 2004, particularly considering that the first fireport I ever saw was on a brand new Beneteau back in the 1980s!

More on fire prevention and fighting.

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Jorge Bermudez

Do you think in that same setup if you were missing the nozzle on that Halotron fire extinguisher (it unscrews) it would still be effective in being able to us charge it into the engine box?

Brian Russell

An extinguisher with a small enough diameter flexible hose that can actually fit through the fire port was recommended to me by a surveyor. Those flared nozzles typically won’t fit.

Brian Russell

We have a reasonably priced Amerex Halon extinguisher, 3 lbs. Not sure if still available… but look here https://fireextinguisherdepot.com/3-lb-halon-1211
Uses “recycled Halon”. Probably not the most environmentally responsible solution, but…that decision to be made by each individual boat owner.

Michael Albert

John- looks great. Is that fireport “sealed/airtight” and you break the edges when needed? Or are the flaps already free?
ALso, looks like a 2.5 lb Amerex, is that correct? They sell 5 lb also but larger, more expensive, and difficult to store