Fire Watch

Fire watch is a very important job offshore. It could save a life or many lives. That being said sometimes fire watch isn't taken as serious as it should. It's not a hard job. If you haven't done it or been around one the fire watch is a job where you watch for fire while Hot Work is being done, anything like cutting, grinding, or welding. The basic things are monitoring a gas detector for dangerous gases, having a fire hose or fire extinguisher in hand or close by, and after the hot work is done then you have to stay and monitor the area for 30 minutes. Not hard huh? A job I don't mind volunteering for. But during fire watch you must stay awake and alert where the hot work is being performed. Now as exhausting as that may sound some people find it hard to stay awake during this time. For example, while doing some work on the plus 10 ( the area about 10 feet above the water line) some cutting was being done with a cutting torch. Some pretty basic work that was approved and and a hot work permit was filled out. The fire watch we will call "Johnny" loved being fire watch because he could catch up on his sleep. Johnny and Rick put on there work vest and proceeded to the plus 1o, where the torch and fire hose was lowered down and the hose was turned on. As Rick started cutting Johnny sat down on the stairs and proceeded to lay back and "do fire watch" as he described it, the rest of us called it sleeping. Johnny was good and asleep and from what he said he was dreaming. while holding the fire hose. After everything happened that I am about to explain Johnny said that he was dreaming that Rick was on fire. So Johnny woke up out of his dream still thinking that Rick was on fire dropped the hose and pushed Rick off the platforms plus 10 and into the water. Wearing his life jacket Rick was now floating in the gulf, and Johnny picks up the fire hose and throws the end of it to Rick to pull him back to the platform. Needless to say Rick was pissed. Now all of this sounds unbelievable, and I might not have believed it either if Rick wasn't completely soaked when him and Johnny came walking back upstairs.

Water Fights

Have you ever been in a water fight? Water balloons or a water hose or just a bucket. Well offshore we have water fights to. They are just on a bigger level. Imagine coming around a corner and being shot in the chest with a fire hose. Now the fight is on and you are running for your life being shot in the back with so much pressure that your about to fall down. And you come around the next corner and here is someone else with another fire hose just waiting for you. That is exactly what happened to me, Luckily I work with a good bunch of guys and they reliaze that one morning when they come out of their rooms at six am and go to strech I will be waiting for a water hose with their name on it. After our small water fight lasting about an our and thousands of gallons of water we called a truce and laid down the hoses. At this time one of the guys in the fight had decide that while our backs were turned it was a good time to break the truce and soak us a little more. Good idea at the time for him but it will be hard for him to sleep at ight when we continually tell him we are gonna get him. And you might ask what starts these water fights? Sometimes it's just somebody who happens to have the hose, other times such as the one above it started with a fish. Now let me explain, you can only make fun of one person so long about the small fish that he is catching and how you have bigger ones in your fish tank, it tends to make the fisherman a little upset. So what would the reasonable thing be to do, throw a fish at the person talking about your fishing skills of course. Now a fish thrown close will let them know that you don't appreciate what they are saying, but a fish hitting them will let them know that it would be a fine time for a water fight. And the fight is on. Although i had an inch of water in my boots and my coveralls were soaked I still had a good time and will not hesitate to start or be involved in another waterfight.

OK, so offshore work can be dangerous and that is why there are so many rules and regulations to keep you safe. Today something that could have been bad didn't and instead it is hilarious. Our cook, I'll call him Sammy so I don't embarrass him to bad, came out side to wet a mop. instead of using a sink or shower he decides to use a fire hose. Now for those who do not know these fire hoses are situated on all levels all around the platform in case a fire breaks out. The water is pumped directly out of the Gulf of Mexico and comes out a high powered 2" fire hose.Now on the movies you see the hoses picking fireman up because they have such high pressure, and these only take one person to hold but it will push you over if you are not careful. We use these water hoses on a daily bases to fill tanks, wash the floor and the ever enjoyable water fight. And you have never been in a water fight until you've been in one with a fire hose. So the procedure after using the hose is to shut the water off at the spool and drain the water out of the hose. Usually the hose is then shut off. Sometimes however it is not. So Sammy goes over and starts to turn the water on at the spool and the hose starts to spray, instead of turning off the hose Sammy turns it on full and so now the hose is dancing around spraying Sammy. Me on the other hand am standing there watching and instead of trying to be the Hero I turn and run to get behind a wall, which sounds easy. But when you are laughing as hard as I was, I nearly was hit with the water. The good news is that no one was hurt and we all got a good laugh.