Safety Awareness Dispatch
SA 26-05 Shipboard Fire Mishap Prevention
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” The Navy has a few similar areas of certainty of its own, with shipboard fires being one our Sailors face on an unfortunately regular basis. It’s not a matter of if there’s going to be a fire; it’s when. The most important part of facing shipboard fires is knowing how to prevent them from starting in the first place and, when they do occur, making sure we’re proficient in the skills needed to fight the fire and protect life and equipment.
After reviewing reported shipboard fire mishaps over the past few years, we see recurring themes in how the fire started: 1) Hot work getting out of hand, 2) Kinetic friction (mechanical parts rubbing together at speed), or 3) Electrical shorts creating sparks that cause a fire. However, the examples below show how it’s the actions and decisions people make beforehand that contribute to whether or not a fire occurs at all.
| Published: | June 2, 2026 |
The Safety Awareness team creates concise, readable (and sometimes funny) safety lessons to help Sailors, Marines and civilian employees (and their families) avoid repeating a mishap. Our goal is to make people think! We do our best to tell a story that people will remember – that they’ll recall when going through their normal day – that empowers them to identify hazards, accept “ownership” and responsibility for those hazards (in their community, command, and home), and take action.
