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Boat blaze which killed worker started in the hull, say experts

From the archive, first published Saturday 3rd Feb 2007.

THE Southampton boatyard fire that killed a Hungarian man was probably started by a stray gas flame igniting insulation foam inside the yacht he was working on, a court heard.

Expert witnesses told Winchester Crown Court that the blaze in the hull was likely to have set alight a propane cylinder on the deck of the part-built boat.

Krisztian Takacs had already died of smoke inhalation by the time another gas cylinder exploded, causing a massive fireball at Smith's Quay boatyard in Southampton in August 2005.

The yacht's owner, Philip Wyman, is charged with the manslaughter of the 26-year-old, because prosecutors allege that he had failed to fit regulators to the gas bottles his employee was using.

The 61-year-old, of Ranelagh Road, Weymouth, also denies two lesser charges of breaching the Health and Safety Act.

Mr Takacs was smelting lead below deck on the instruction of his boss when the fire broke out.

On day five of Wyman's trial, the court was shown footage of controlled tests carried out since, using similar gas appliances to those operated by Mr Takacs. The tests showed how using them at higher pressures than suggested made the flames larger and less controllable.

Specialist fire investigation officer David Halliday said he believed that the blaze started in the hull.

"The vast majority of the fire had been burning inside the yacht," he said.

"That was where most combustible materials were found, and there doesn't seem to be a viable ignition cause outside the hull."

Earlier health and safety inspector Stuart Hamilton said that he had found no evidence of a regulator at the scene.

"If Mr Wyman had bought the cylinders for use he should have known, or been advised of, the type of regulator that should be fitted to reduce the pressure in the hose and the risk of leaks," he said.

"I'm sure an in-line regulator, which is a solid metal block, would have survived the fire and been found nearby."

The trial is expected to last a further two weeks.

Proceeding.