Brock is a big man for giving a straight account from which others can learn.

Simone’s husband Paul here . They say the measure of a man is reflected in his level of humility. Brock you measured off the scale in my humble opinion ! It is a truly strong and humble man , than can be so open with his mistakes and share so openly as you did in this video . You have given others much food for thought , and I have no doubt your sharing will pay it forward for someone out there as a result of what you shared . Your good karma is what has allowed you to find yourself abroad a sailboat once again, I have no doubt . That being said , my highest regress to the kindness of the gentleman that sold you the boat . It is beyond refreshing to know that there are still souls out there , that by their actions show the world is not ruled by the mighty dollar ! But, By by Genuine sacrifice and kindness to others ! Yourself and this man that sold you the boat are what makes me eager to become part of the sailing community. Thanks for the video and sharing Emily !

20:31 “I mean I basically did everything wrong” 😂 I respect this man so much for his honesty

You didn't do everything wrong... You survived without serious harm! You could have made a really big mistake and lost so much more. Sorry for your loss!

The important thing is Brock is safe and alive. Thank God it didnt happen out in open seas. Good learning piece. Thanks Emily for a great interview.

1) You're alive. 2) your honesty and accountability is very important for others. 3) so happy you got another boat and did not just give up. I can't donate cash..but if you ever need a hand or help I would be honored. Safe travels and may winds always be in your favor.

One of the things we were first taught in Navy boot camp: Every sailor is a firefighter first. During boot we spent 2 weeks in firefighting training, and spent many many hours per week after boot drilling for potential fires as well. We actually only spent about 3 days on ship handling, if that is any indication of how important fire safety and fighting is. I was lucky during my time I never personally had to fight a fire onboard ship. My ships did have an occasional actual fire but thankfully no lives were lost and the damage was minor. But to this day the training is still with me, and I have had to on more than one occasion extinguish a fire that happened due to fireworks, a bbq that wasn’t cared for and things like that. When we are onboard my little Water Lilly I work with my kids on firefighting and escape. We do drills, and sometimes we do not get the fire out and have to abandon ship. I don’t make them jump into the water, but they don their life jackets and get to a place where they can get off the boat. My kids are getting much better and they don’t panic. Lizard brains isn’t always a good thing, but knowing the difference between a fight you can win, and getting off alive is by far the most important lesson in any drill.

One of my first purchases for my yacht was, along with a smoke detector, a FIRE BLANKET. Also did a sea safety course which included how to use one. Should be mandatory.

Great interview! Very courages of Brock to admit he did "everything wrong" and explain what really happened - would have been so easy to explain like politicians do: "not our fault!". That way everybody can learn from his experience. So yeah like he said: try to imagine any situation on any place of the boat where fire can challenge you... better not only do MOB simulations! And lmao when Emily sais "nothing to bring from your old boat to the new one"... Anyways, like most other people commented: he is safe! Imagine he would not woke up???

Polyester upholstery foam produces toxic gasses when it burns, so getting out might be a better idea than you think. After replacing too many swollen lithium battery packs, I now let most of that stuff recharge in a cast iron dutch oven, with the cover on. Might not stop a lithium fire but certainly will slow it down.

Good information. It sounds like, if the source of the fire was actually that lithium powered device he put in the cubby, that the fire would have started no matter where he put it. You never really know how you are going to act in an emergency until you are faced with that emergency, and the fog of sleep doesn't help either. I am also going to check the CO/smoke detector on my boat and probably just replace it because it is old.

Brock (and Emily), Thanks so much for sharing your story. Knowing the details really helps everyone reassess their safety protocols.

Run drills. Thinking and talking is only the first step. Make a plan, and then run drills with all of the 'what if' scenarios you've brainstormed. Actually moving - combining the brain and the body - is what anchors the plan so that if needed the plan is there immediately. Thanks, Brock, for the courage to lay this out for us, and thanks Emily for the excellent interview!

Most importantly, you have provided serious proof that we all need to review and practice "Safety" basics...smoke and fire detectors, and a "grab bag" "ditch bag" ...because it's probably going to be an event that occurs while in prot or at anchor, rather than some storm at sea....odds are it will occur when you let down your guard...and assume all is safe....they call these events "Black Swan" because there is no suspect of danger and the event occurs completely out of the blue.....thank you again for giving us all a warning to reassert the safety measures and get into compliance asap!

Wow thanks for getting us the whole story! Nobody got hurt and looks like his new boat is beautiful! Great interview Emily! Gotta love the boating community

The most important video you have produced. The skippers diminished judgment was likely a combination of sleep state, oxygen depletion, and possibly off gassing of burning materials. I know a guy who's house burnt during sleep hours. He tells a similar story of diminished judgment about walking around the house trying to figure out what the noise was (It was the smoke detector going off). He didn't realize it was a house fire until people were pounding on his front door. I surfaced from a SCUBA dive to find the charging cord to a dive light battery pack had completely burnt up as result of the battery pack being shorted. The cord was so hot that it left a black charred line on the wood shelf. Had that cord been atop paper, or some type of combustible fabric it surely would have caught fire. That sure is something to think about the next time you plug your phone, tablet, computer, or flashlight into a charger for the night. Emily you did a great job conducting the interview; way better than anything I have ever seen out of Katie Couric. Katie should send you 90% of the money she has been paid, because she sure has been overpaid during her career. Every sailing KZfaq channel should have this episode set to play automatically at the end of their video. I have no doubt that this video will have sailors changing the way they equip their boats and how they conduct operations aboard. Great work guys. Sleep well tonight knowing you have produced a great video that will affect others in a positive way, and likely save lives for years to come.

Great reminder. First thing to do in chaos, give yourself a second. Fight, flight, & fawn: no way to know until you are there. Brilliant honesty & humilty: what an awesome human. What a beautiful testament to a community that you are right back on track. What a beautiful example set. Fair winds & God bless. Know your/you're love.

Foot square ceramic tiles and larger tiles can be cut and cemented into fire resistant storage areas for lithium battery items.

We have portable smoke hoods designed for high rise escape in both cabins in case we have to fight a fire inside the boat. They are not expensive and will filter out smoke to give you a slightly better chance of fighting the fire. In every boat fire that I have seen the amount of toxic smoke is amazing.

As like Brock, I had an explosion and fire aboard. I went overboard, stayed w the boat. Knocked out the fire and was rescued and towed to dock. Such events happen so quickly, the flames in such proximity...clear thought is impacted. Very glad to see Brock managed to survive and where tempered by events, has an amazing tale to remark as adventures continue. Unexpected life, taken in stride. M.

Wow, thanks for the story. I have had and extensively cruised 5 Cruising boats. My last one that I sold ( I had downsized), recently was a………..Tartan 37! That was a great boat. S&S know how to design a boat. Very well behaved on all points of sail and shoal draft to boot! So sorry for your loss. I had a total loss in Hurricane Andrew, a Cat 5 that hit Miami back in 1992. An totally tricked out and equipped Alberg 35. With insurance and a little more we bought a Kelly Peterson 44 Center Cockpit cutter. Oh well, you have to keep it in perspective. A boat is a chunk of fiberglass. No one hurt. Great. It can be replaced.

Thank for sharing this it gives me another million things to think about ,this will be very helpful for my safety

Honest video. Great to see humility. Glad you got out ok. You are clearly a very intelligent person and will be even better after this experience. Good luck!!

I have never experienced a more humble person. Good luck in the future.

I am having the strangest feeling about how much I admire this guy. Even without the second boat. I wish I had it in me to do something like this.

Thank you so much for sharing this story, there are good lessons to be learned. We are so happy Brock has a new boat🥰

Thanks for bringing the full story to the community!

10:43 Brock's best guess what caused the fire. IMO: ⚠️Wherever possible; Always ensure any lithium cells you 'acquire' are made by genuine top brand manufacturers. 👉 Major brand are LG, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic. You rarely get a second chance on a boat. Buy with safety in mind.

Watching his boat burning was gut-wrenching. We in Texas love and miss you! I am so happy your situation is turning around.

Very good video. We are looking at processes and taking stock of things on our new boat. I really appreciate this man's wisdom and attitude and Emily's intrerview. Good job.

Thanks for a very informative and thought-provoking interview!

Emily thank you so much for the interview with Brock. Ciaos is always hiding in the cracks, ready to jump out at us. Thank goodness that Brock got the most important item off the boat. His self. His friend Alex gets major kudos. It is nice that this sad, sad story had a happy ending. Be happy, be safe

Thanks for doing this. It only makes everyone safer to hear the potential failure modes out there. The more we study how things go wrong, the less likely it’ll happen.

Thank you for sharing this story. I really enjoyed learning from you two.

Thanks for the video, learned a lot from it! Fair winds!

Thanks for sharing this with us. I'm going through some scenarios in my head and realizing I've got some work to do on my boat.

Living and learning most times bites. Glad you're still around to sail another day. Fair winds.

You are truly blessed. First off, you are alive. Then you woke up and were able to exit. Then this happened in harbor not out at sea. And finally, you were given a reprieve via another boat. The loss of the craft was of course not pleasant, but it could have ended so much worse. I've often wondered about the proliferation of lithium power in so many devices and thought that as the useful lifespan of these batteries arrived, just how much of this type issue would occur. I realize the up side is so great with them. Myself I have a metal locker to keep mine in. A large tool box or tool tote made of metal, like a gang-box used on construction jobs is appropriate. All lithium devices should be stored inside a metal container when not in use. Ever see how these batteries react when they go off? Even metal containment isn't 100% but does give the user more time to react. Hopefully all who read this will heed. It's easier to flip open a latch and lift a lid to remove your devices then to have such an experience as this poor chap. It would be good exercise to survey your area and determine how much lithium battery you have. You might not realize that some of the devices you possess contain this stuff. Take a good look at laptop batteries, phone batteries, flashlights and so many other devices even if you don't suspect there to be a source.

That was a great interview ! you can really get e real sense of reality! Safe cruising to all of you.

Very rich to hear that kind of feedback Thanks for this interview. It's one thing to be trained & prepared to face major incident such as a fire, but when shit hits the fan, it all comes down to : don't rush, take a "deep breath", take the fraction of seconds to recall your training, and then act.

Thank you great informative story and thank Brock . This type of stories keep us more awake of fire instead of wind, reefs and waves.. onboard ..bests

Brock I live in Vero Beach!!!!!! Nice to hear about my town!!! Sorry to hear about your troubles!!!!!

Nobody got hurt, so that's the big win. Hate it for him though, but glad he got a deal on a new boat. Great interview Emily.

Hey guys have just found your channel - for Brock, I'm glad you made it out OK and you are still on the water, for Emily, you are a great interviewer and thanks to both of you for such an honest and informative chat - K :)

I had a fire at my nursery back in 1997. At the time I had never heard of PTSD, but after years of waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares about fire, I finally moved on. However the first thing we bought for our new boat was a smoke detector. I feel justified now. It sounds like Brock is doing pretty well and has a pragmatic view of what happened. Thanks to him for his honesty and frankness

People have no idea how dangerous lithium batteries are. I am a retired airline pilot and I remember a trip coming back from China and my first officers flashlight exploded in the cockpit, he had bought lithium batteries in China for it. Luckily the explosion was contained and did not cause a fire but it sounded like a bomb going off in the cockpit. In 2010 UPS lost a 747 aircraft to a cargo fire caused by lithium batteries……..

Breaks my heart.

Thank you for this interview and public service announcement. Very valuable. And I must say 1970s T37 to a 1986 Valiant 40 is a rather nice upside to an otherwise bad experience!

Good to see him back on a boat!

What a harrowing experience. Very instructive as to how things can go wrong in an instant. Many good safety tips. Thanks for a really important video.

Wow, thank you for sharing. We need to rethink some stuff on our boat.

Really important and informative video….thx so much!

A lesson for me , especially what and where you store things , thanks

So glad Brock wasnt injured. Lessons learned. The new boat looks awesome. I'd like to follow him too if he has a way for any of us to do that!

Might this be a model for all after action reports. Very well covered from all angles, given with true introspection and clarity. This is how we learn, from the truth. There is a lot here to absorb, and since it was delivered so, I suspect the lessons stay with me for a long time.

Brock is an impressively honest, humble and candid fellow. I am sure we would all act differently with the benefit of hindsight. One aspect which comes to mind as a first action would be to isolate the battery banks - if the switches were within easy reach.

Glad you made it out alive. Charging those lithium batteries can be very dangerous. Look up the dive boat disaster at Santa Cruz Island in California. Thirty-four people died. Boat name Conception. There were lots of batteries charging all night for cameras, lights etc. I never saw a definitive finger pointed at the batteries but something burned and sunk the boat. If I still had a boat and needed to charge a bunch of batteries, I would design and build a safe set up.

We had a free service from the fire department to check and give advice what fire equipment and where to place and what smoke detectors to use as we live aboard, we have 2 smoke detectors one in the main cabin and one in our forward berth, thanks for saying it how it is as fire would be one of my biggest fears 😨 and it is always good to have a plan.

oh wow!

Great interview of how & what happened, will you do a follow up story on prevention of fires on a boat , thanks for sharing

That's why sailors, especially in submarines, drill themselves for such situations. Sorry for the loss and I wish you the promptest return back on the water.

So sorry. Wow. We all feat that. At least you were not a hundred miles at sea! But looks like you made lemonade out of lemons. Although the T 37 is a really nice boat. Looks like you god another one. I had a total loss of my Alberg 35 in hurricane Andrew, a cat. 5 killer. I was in Miami. We were insured and then went to a Kelly Peterson 44, a much nicer and more capable and comfortable boat. So sometimes things work out for the better in the long run. Good luck. And thanks for the story.

A very candid and informative conversation, and yet another reason why there is now and will continue to be no lithium batteries on my boat.

Had a similar thing happened in my garage where an old tubed radio was plugged in and one of the cats Peed on the cord. It was earlier in the morning and my daughter woke up and said what are you barbecuing this early. Rather than run away from the fire and grab the hose and put it out. My daughter called the fire department and by the time they got there about 45 minutes later there was no smoke. The fire chief said I just missed the electrical box by 5 inches by putting the fire out.

God speed my man. How he's handling this is admirable.

From experience, it is very difficult to predict the consequences of your actions in case of fire. When under pressure, you don't realise that the fire is starved of oxygen, you cannot evaluate how ventilation might change if you do something, you are not ready for what happens when the oxygen reaches the fire. The best chance was to have a fire alarm and catch it early when a mistake doesn't have such disastrous consequences.

i am glad you got a second chance with your dream Brock.

What a survivor!

Excellent video... Number one takeaway... Detectors are cheap and effective... and replace the batteries every year... Thanx... ;-)

New boat, new stuff, new adventures, all because Brock still has his life. That makes him lucky!

Even a 78 Tartan is a nice boat they were so well built.

Thanks for sharing. I'll be installing some smoke detectors.

Very interesting, only a fleeting mention of cheap amazon products from ...

8:20 Because of your decisions, you are still alive. Congrats on getting out alive!

maybe a fire proof box/bag for charging and storing any device with lithium. pretty common in the radio control community

Oh what a disaster! Thnx for giving the whole story 🙏🏽 I can’t even imagine how mad I would be at myself in a similar situation. Very good wake up, to check every bit out, to be prepared. 🧯

If you lived to tell the tale, then you did the right thing. Everything on a fiberglass boat is flammable. We have the fight or flight reaction for a reason: self preservation.

One door closes another door opens. 👍👍✌️✌️

Glad you are safe. All sailors should practice fire drills regularly and out of hours.

A PBE is a self-contained breathing apparatus that makes it possible for a human being to function in smoky conditions and fight a fire with eyesight and breathing ability intact. In a confined transportation space such as this it is a must-have item, even if regs don't call for it. I would add a laptop fire containment bag (which includes fireproof gloves) next and have an automatic fire suppression system in the battery and engine compartments.

I am definitely going to put smoke detectors on my boat now, thanks for an excellent video.

1. Lithium can be dangerous! You are dependent on monitoring electronics to work. In certified general aviation aircraft lithium batteries is not allowed. Remember the Boeing 787's that burned? 2. Thank goodness that battery pack didn't burn while being shipped in a cargo/passenger aircraft.. 3. You did something very right- you saved yourself from a very nasty situation and kept others away. 4. I wonder how much hassle the recovery/salvage was? 5. Finally, once lithium gets burning, I don't think you can stop it. It contains enough oxygen to burn on its own. Airplanes carry fireproof bags to contain the burning camera/phone..

Great story of aid to mariner from the community working out well. Drilling, dry practice going through the motions with yourself and crew gets it in that lizard brain. Talking and reading doesn’t set it in response nature, especially sleep deprived and low O2. In my opinion any sleeping berth should have an extinguisher inside entrance. All should understand how potentially dangerous lithium ion can be on board.

Had a fire on a boat years ago. First two extinguishers did not work. Third one put it out. Ever since I look at the gauges as I pass an extinguisher.

Have you contacted amazon about the battery welder that may have started the fire. Amazon has lost at least 2 warehouses do to fire . They need to know just to have those items examined.

I learned that from now on I will always have a pair of underwear mounted topsides.

Fire on a boat is the worst 😞

In Australia we replace our batteries on fire alarms 1 november yearly

what a great reminder, prepare for the worst.

Sorry to hear about this! Wondering if there was any issue of government wanting his money to salvage the boat, e.g. remove oil/diesel, raise it/move it from anchorage?

always have a an emergency procedure you drill for!!!!!

no smoke detector? Damn....crazy story & glad no one got hurt.

Nice guy

Experience tells us that nearly all accidents are 'freak' accidents (ie., unexpected). And naturally, the most difficult circumstances to prepare for are the [unexpected]. Why does everyone only prepare for the 'expected' ?! (Preparation is everything) ... right?

I had a boat fire on my Catalina 25. For reasons not clear to me I had an electrical fire. I disconnected my batteries but there was still a burning smell. I removed the batteries and put them on the dock. Unfortunately the wires from the electrical panel to where the batteries were stored under the seatee passed through a cabinet where I had some combustibles. To get at this cabinet I had to remove a few boat cushions, a folded inflatible dingy and an outboard engine. I was afraid that by the time I got through all this stuff, and opened the cabinet to the air I thought I would be consumed by smoke or the flames would erupt as soon as the fresh air hit and maybe one of the cumbustibles could explode (e.g. a bottle of sea form, mineral spirits, etc). So I called the fire department. They basicallly ripped out the wires, sprayed stuff everywhere and totallted the boat (was a 50 year old boat not worth much anywhere). Bottom line the only thing I salvaged was the batteries. When I got them home, I found out the polarity on one battery was reversed. I've heard the only way the battery polarity can be reversed is if you charge them the wrong way, but I hadn't charged them in over a year, other than a direct charge from a 25 watt solar panel. I still have no idea how this all happened.

After dealing with the hazmat mess of the aftermath of an extinguisher when I had a diesel stove/heater engulfed in 4x4x5 feet of flames I calmly walked out, filled a 5 gallon bucket with salt water, walked back in holding breath, hit the fire dead center with most of it and thst was that.

Hi, agree with all the points made in the comments about honesty and humility. Rare and valuable. One point of clarification please. Are you saying that, as far as you know, the fire was NOT caused by lithium house batteries, but instead by some small device powered by lithium batteries that you recently purchased and stored there?

Losing everything but the clothes on your back has got to suck if you have no clothes on your back.

If no insurance, were you fined for salvage removal, fuel & oil cleanup???

Do smoke alarms have difficulties on boats due to the high moisture and if so what manufacturers smoke alarms work best on boats or shall I say false alarm the least. Thank you Clark and Emily for this video.