The Burner Man

When you stand back and watch a boiler man work the burners during a drill or a deployment, the intensity and tension can build. The heat level in a fire room aboard a naval ship is intense at times, in warmer climates, it can reach 120 degrees, yet that burner man must sit and stare at those fires, in case they do go out. He sweats as he stares through that glass view port, hoping the fires will continue to burn, the front of that boiler a few feet from his face, the air register flapper valve stands in the open position and the fuel valve is wide open. On a 1200 pound- D-type boiler six burners can blaze at once. In the background he can hear the pumps and blowers whine and the steam reducers hiss. He stands under the fluorescent lights as they stay bright, his feet in his boots hot, and against the metal deck plates, with diamond shapes in them. His hands and body become a blur of motion if the boiler fires should go out. His job is to secure the boiler front as fast as possible, I know I lived it. The call for more steam by the bridge to feed the engines can come at any time, and he must stand at the ready.

He stares at the burners or he read his manuals of operations and emergency procedures. He has to know all the reasons a boiler may go out and why and what to do. Where is the emergency fuel cutout, the upper level man watches the blowers and pumps and water levels if they go low, emergency shutdown can commence. The burner man must be ready. What do you do for high water, low water, ruptured tube, loss of feed pumps or any other vital equipment. Ruptured fuel lines , loss of fuel pressure and so many more. The men on the deck plates must be ready. These Boiler Technicians are vital to the ships the Navy has, and they are the blood and strength of the Navy in more ways than one. They are the primary Engineers without whom no steam driven ship can move, nor can the Navy fight without.

As a burner goes out this burner man reacts quickly pulling emergency fuel stops, closing registers and fuel valves and stopping the oil from flowing into the firebox of the boiler. His body and forehead soaked in sweat as the heat rises in the fire room, because there is no steam to power the generators now and the air vents go dead. By the time the burner man finishes and drops the six burner barrels on the deck plates, his body aches and the sweat drenches him. Yet, as soon as the reason for the shutdown is found and fixed he stands ready to do it all again. Yes sailors do complain and yes they get angry when things go wrong, but, in the end it is the man on the deck plates, that burner man who makes sure no one dies in a fuel explosion or worse. He makes sure his ship does not stay dead at sea as a target for an enemy, missile or torpedo.

I know this burner man, this man who did this and kept his ships moving and did the job well. He paid his price in the end, due to a fall down a ladder of 24 steel rungs. But he survives each day knowing he did what was right, with 6 bad discs that make it hard to sleep at night. And if you see him, walking through a store or down the street one day, and he is stooped or walking funny, don’t laugh at him, he is a Disabled Veteran today and proud he served the USA.

The End