Out of date flares.

[pete.i]

Hi all.

I have found a pack of flares on my boat whilst clearing it ready to sell it. Technically these are explosives and I need to dispose of them. I realise that I cannot just chuck them so I asked the local fire brigade. They cannot do anything with them and have suggested the police. I am reluctant to go to the police at this moment in time that's even assuming I can find a copper in this day and age. Anyway anyone got any ideas on who to see about disposing of these things please.

[ditchcrawler]

Hi all.

I have found a pack of flares on my boat whilst clearing it ready to sell it. Technically these are explosives and I need to dispose of them. I realise that I cannot just chuck them so I asked the local fire brigade. They cannot do anything with them and have suggested the police. I am reluctant to go to the police at this moment in time that's even assuming I can find a copper in this day and age. Anyway anyone got any ideas on who to see about disposing of these things please.

I just looked at the RYA site but they are not much help http://www.rya.org.uk/infoadvice/regssafety/Pages/tep.aspxthere is a place on the T&M that sets them off as I have seen the red smoke.

[W+T]

It is a difficult one nowadays to get rid of, as you know, you could ask fire work suppliers for help.

 

copied this from a forum, is old but worth calling a few if they are near you.

 

not much use to the ditch crawlers I know but thought it might be of use to you salty sea dogs on here,,,,,,,,,,,
"From 1 April 2010 the number of locations where boat owners can dispose of 'time-expired pyrotechnics' will reduce to just 18, and the collection and disposal contract has been awarded to a private company.

The MCA, with the assistance of the Department for Transport, will continue to accept TEPs from the public; however the collection and disposal service will no longer be undertaken by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with effect from the 31 March 2010 because of their operational pressures.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has awarded a new
contract to undertake the collection and disposal of Time Expired Pyrotechnics (TEPs) from its premises. The new contracted service will be phased in from December 2009 with Ramora UK Ltd of Portsmouth. (www.ramorauk.com)

Following recent changes of legislation with regard to the
storage and transportation of explosives, MCA premises now require to be brought into line with those changes. This will mean that the number of sites which will be able to accept TEPs will be significantly reduced.

The Agency plan to achieve this by concentrating available resources on 18 sites evenly spaced across the country. Analysis of the quantities of TEPs deposited with the MCA indicate that up to 70 per cent of items find their way to the vicinity of the 18 proposed sites which will accept TEPs.

The following sites have therefore been identified:
Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres at
Shetland
Stornoway
Belfast
Liverpool
Holyhead
Milford Haven
Falmouth
Brixham
Solent
Dover
Thames
Humber
Forth
Inverness Sector Base
North Norfolk Sector Base
Cruden Bay Coastguard Rescue Office
Girvan Coastguard Rescue Office
A location at Poole
Douglas MacDonald, Head of Environment and Emergency Response Standards, said ‘These 18 locations, spaced evenly across the country have been chosen because we believe that they will meet the majority of the public demand and are reasonably accessible. Unfortunately not all sites are manned."

Edited May 21, 2016 by W+T

[pete.i]

Yeah it would seem so. It just makes it much more likely that people will illegally just dump these things. I am not going to do that but it does seem that everyone and their mother in laws will not take the responsiblity. as for fireworks suppliers, the only people that I know of that supply fireworrks are Homebase and I cannot see the girls there being of any help LOL. I shall persevere.

[MHS]

When the flares on my dad's seagoing boat went out of date, we had a firework display at their house, to use them up. I should point out that he lives as far away from the sea as is possible in the uk.

 

If your flares are really old, could you not just soak them in water, then cut them up and bin them?

[W+T]

Yeah it would seem so. It just makes it much more likely that people will illegally just dump these things. I am not going to do that but it does seem that everyone and their mother in laws will not take the responsiblity. as for fireworks suppliers, the only people that I know of that supply fireworrks are Homebase and I cannot see the girls there being of any help LOL. I shall persevere.

 

 

lol yes, they would look at you like an Essex girl trying to understand a word with more than four letters in it lol.

 

I meant a fire work display suppliers, there was one near me otherwise i would of asked for you, they did move to south Manchester, i will google and see if i can find them...Ill be back

here is one

 

http://www.manchester-fireworks.com/

 

 

but where are you in the world?

[pete.i]

According to the package it is illegal to set them off unless it is an emergency and I am in no way expert enough to know if soaking them in water and cutting them up would be a safe thing for me to do and as for binning them. W+T list seems the most likely avenue to pursue. I live reasonably near to Humber although Humber is an estuary for the Ouse and Trent rivers so that isn't exactly telling where the collection point is. I'll give the coastguard a ring on Monday.

I'm in Selby North Yorkshire W+T. We do have a largish marina near me at Naburn I will ring them on Monday as well.

[pete.i]

Just had a look at that Ramora web site and they do bomb disposal. There is an emergency number on there. Does finding a pack of flares hidden away in a nook on your boat contitute an emergency. Um just so that the pendants know that I have only just found these flares on my boat. They were hidden away in a, somewhat, concealed nook on my boat. They have only come to light because I am clearing my boat to sell it. Obviously the guy that I bought it from via a broker wasn't so diligent.

[W+T]

I just had a thought, i used to deliver to a pyrotechnics/stage building company a few years back,

 

here are some i found you could ask,

 

http://www.hi5-fireworks.com/

 

http://www.thefireworkers.com/

 

http://www.fireworkdisplayuk.co.uk/

[Giant]

The Humber MRCC is in Bridlington. Phone number is 01262 672 317. I think they should be able to take them from you.

[MHS]

According to the package it is illegal to set them off unless it is an emergency and I am in no way expert enough to know if soaking them in water and cutting them up would be a safe thing for me to do and as for binning them. W+T list seems the most likely avenue to pursue. I live reasonably near to Humber although Humber is an estuary for the Ouse and Trent rivers so that isn't exactly telling where the collection point is. I'll give the coastguard a ring on Monday.

 

I'm in Selby North Yorkshire W+T. We do have a largish marina near me at Naburn I will ring them on Monday as well.

Wet gunpowder can't burn, so problem solved.

 

If you cut open a shotgun cartridge and light the gunpowder, it burns rather explodes as it is not enclosed. I can't see that a flares' powder would act differently if out of its casing.

[W+T]

Just had a look at that Ramora web site and they do bomb disposal. There is an emergency number on there. Does finding a pack of flares hidden away in a nook on your boat contitute an emergency. Um just so that the pendants know that I have only just found these flares on my boat. They were hidden away in a, somewhat, concealed nook on my boat. They have only come to light because I am clearing my boat to sell it. Obviously the guy that I bought it from via a broker wasn't so diligent.

 

 

how big is the boat to blag it lol, not a 15 foot fishing boat i hope.

[Bobbybass]

Funny...I asked this question of my local 'sea chandlery'...just today...as I have bought a boat (inland at present) and they are dated 2005 !!.

 

Their answer..as much as yours. I live in East Sussex....Sussex...but would have to take them to Portsmouth !..

 

They then went on to say...that a lot of people...'bury them in the garden'...

[Giant]

If your flares are really old, could you not just soak them in water, then cut them up and bin them?

 

Many pyrotechnics will happily ignite and burn when fully immersed in water, as they include their own oxidants. It would hardly surprise me for marine distress flares to have this property. Cutting them up would not seem like a smart thing to do, wet or not.

[MHS]

 

Many pyrotechnics will happily ignite and burn when fully immersed in water, as they include their own oxidants. It would hardly surprise me for marine distress flares to have this property. Cutting them up would not seem like a smart thing to do, wet or not.

So why do their instructions say to keep them dry and in a waterproof container?

[Giant]

So why do their instructions say to keep them dry and in a waterproof container?

 

Because the manufacturer cannot guarantee they will perform as well as they should do, or last for years without deteriorating, if they are wet?

[Harpur Hill]

Since they've been around for so long could you not keep them in a safe place until Nov 5th & just set 'em off?

[pete.i]

Thank you ditchcrawler, W+T and Giant for the useful advice. I will ring Bridlington on Monday. I need a trip to the coast.

[pete.i]

Yes I can imagine Bobbybass. The fact that the authorities have, more or less, washed their hands of this means that a lot people will just say "sod it" and dispose of these things irresponsibly.

 

 

 

how big is the boat to blag it lol, not a 15 foot fishing boat i hope.

It was a 21.foot fishing boat. Pleasure fishing, if there is such a thing LOL, seagoing around Poole originally. It's a shetland 4+2.

[nebulae]

Definately go for the November 5th option. No harm done,disposed of safely and no chance of them being mistaken for an emergency.

[Arthur Brown]

Local workshops that refurbish liferafts will have a means of disposing of the flares (etc) that they come by. So they may have a licensed store (bin !) into which you can put your flares. They will get collected and disposed by Ramora just like any other flare via the coastguard etc.

 

If you are far (10 miles + )from the coast you could just pull the string, and fire them. The best way to know what to expect in an emergency is to do it as practise first.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Arthur Brown

[pete.i]

Definately go for the November 5th option. No harm done,disposed of safely and no chance of them being mistaken for an emergency.

It's still illegal and I am in no position to decide if setting them off is a safe thing to do. I know that is highly unlikely that anyone would find out especially if they were set off on November the 5th but I am not going to do that.

 

The question that was asked as to why they say on the package to keep them dry. The reason for that is because the explosives are in cardboard cartridges and if the cardboard gets wet the flares would fall apart but that will not make the contents any less dangerous.

[W+T]

Definately go for the November 5th option. No harm done,disposed of safely and no chance of them being mistaken for an emergency.

 

 

Christ i hope not to be at sea and in need of help on the 5th November if thats the case.

[Ray T]

Since they've been around for so long could you not keep them in a safe place until Nov 5th & just set 'em off?

 

Might be risky if any of them are parachute flares.

 

 

http://www.safety-marine.co.uk/distress-flares/p3209s11/ikaros-mca-approved-red-parachute-rocket-flare-2-pk.htm

 

Description

This is a two-pack of MCA approved Red Parachute Rocket Flares

Hansson Pyrotech supplies handflares, smoke signals and distress rockets of the highest standard. Unlike many budget brand flares found in most chandlerys all Hansson Ikaros products meet the demanding SOLAS requirements ensuring the highest level of reliability and safety and are one of the only flares suitable and approved by the MCA for use on all types of charter boat and commercial working vessels.

Specifications:

• Light Intensity: 30,000 cd
• Burn Time: 40 seconds
• Flare Ejection Height: 350m
• Size: 277mm Long x 47mm Dia
• Weight: 415g

Edited May 21, 2016 by Ray T

[Arthur Brown]

There is professional advice to firework operators to give the coastguard warning of a firework display within (IIRC 5) miles of the coast. inland from that a mere solas flare or ten would be unlikely to be noticed at sea.

 

I did once see and participate in the disposal of hundreds of smoke flares and some parachute flares -kept the boys happy for a while. I think Leicestershire is far enough from the coast!