Provision of adequate firefighting equipment is a good precaution for any marina and a 

 requirement of most controlling agencies. Although dock fires are extremely rare outside of 

 fuel docks, they can occur. Water is a poor agent for fighting hydrocarbon and electrical 

 short-out fires. For this reason, there is a trend toward eUmination of fire hydrants and 

 reliance on chemical firefighting equipment (Fig. 114). When used, chemical firefighting 

 equipment should be placed at intervals of about 200 feet along each main vsralk unless 

 closer spacing is required by ordinance. The cabinets housing the equipment should be 

 painted red. 



Figure 114. Cabinet for chemical fire extinguisher. 



b. Fuel Docks and Pumpout Stations. The design and construction of a fuel dock differs 

 from an ordinary loading dock in that the fuel dock must be more rugged, support the fuel 

 pumps, and take aboard tlie lines from the buried tanks ashore. These requirements present 

 no special problems in a fixed system, but a floating system also requires flexible fuel lines 

 leading to the fixed hnes installed in the dock. The simplest solution is to lease the entire 

 fueling area to an oil company to develop and operate. Where the economics indicate an 

 advantage in owner operation, a mechanical engineer specializing in piping systems should 

 be engaged to work with the structural engineer in devising the system. An important 



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