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Hear the maroons which call the lifeboat crew to the RNLI Station To hear the recording of the lifeboat maroons again, refresh this page or click here.
A Maroon is as an audible and visual warning signal. The payload explodes with a bright flash and a loud bang at a height of around 300m. They are fired as a back up to the modern day paging system. They are also used to advise casualties in the area that help is on its way and their plight has been recognised. Should crewmembers not be at home then the maroons also advise their families that the station is on call. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) monitors marine radio frequencies for distress calls (Channel 16) and also receive 999 calls from the public. Following a call, the Coastguard decides which rescue service would be most effective and then calls them out and co-ordinates the rescue. In nearly all cases, they will request the launch of the nearest Lifeboat and they will contact the Lifeboat Operations Manager (LOM) or one of his Deputy Launch Authorities (DLAs) who will summon the crew by pager. Maroons may be fired as a back-up. This all happens within a few minutes of the alarm being raised. The maroons are housed in a tube about 1 foot long and about 1½" in diameter. There is a launching tripod, which is put near the sea wall, to fire the two maroons over the water. The tripod is about 4ft tall and has two tubes fitted at the top of the tripod in which to insert the maroons. After releasing the top and bottom caps, the two maroons are placed into the launching tripod and are ready for firing by squeezing a small trigger which drops down into place after the bottom cap and safety pin have been removed. The maroons explode with a large bang, followed by a bright white flash. They are driven upwards by a powerful rocket fitted into the base. The Crew are also issued with pagers, which will send different messages, to call out the two types of Lifeboat. They are activated by a telephone call, from any telephone, if the correct sequence of numbers is dialled. A weekly test is carried out to check they are all functioning. Burnham-On-Sea RNLI will endeavour to avoid firing the maroons during the night, providing of course there is a good response from the pager system. Martin
Cox, Lifeboat Operations Manager The modern pager system:
The pagers
display messages that alert the crew as to which of the lifeboats is
required to launch. Back to the Burnham-On-Sea RNLI Home Page
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Two
maroons are fired from the Burnham-On-Sea Lifeboat Station to alert
the town's RNLI crew whenever they are required for an emergency call
out - also known as a 'shout'.
The
crew are also called by pagers. The RNLI's pager system is managed by
communications company NTL, who ensure that it is running 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year.