The large size and weight of the ship firefighting cache made it difficult for the duty Port Hedland volunteer firefighter to transport it to the wharf.
The ATSB acknowledges the action taken by DFES to break the caches down into smaller portable packages.
The ATSB recommends that the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) takes action to address the safety issue regarding the transportation of ship firefighting caches to wharves.
DFES agree with this recommendation and is taking steps to break the caches down into smaller portable packages.
As a general comment, DFES is disappointed to note that the risk related to the safety standards of ships operating in Western Australian ports have not been addressed from regulatory/compliance perspective.
DFES note that this is the second shipboard fire in the Pilbara in recent years where the presence of hatches that were secured open or defective have affected the performance of deluge systems and hampered fire suppression efforts. These two occurrences suggest, anecdotally at least, that this is a commonplace issue within the industry.
