I'm thinking that the "guard box" fell off and a prior owner just discarded it? Mike, is there evidence of a prior attachment to the hull vent on that side?
My thought was along the lines of a corroded hardware related fault. It's just a wild guess, anyway, since fire flaps are very rare, from my observations.
If any of you are still available I have an E/R air vent question: We have owned our 1999 OA 510 Classico about a year. It has engine room blowers and associated air intake vents along both p & s hulls, about 4’ long. We recently noticed a toggle switch at the forward end and inside the vent, accessible from outside. Any thoughts on what that is?
Did the original owner slip a security alarm switch in there to turn on and off from the dock? Just a wild thought.
Hm … that does sound wild, and a bit paranoid; I don’t think he was that sort, but one never knows what lurks in the hearts of men. It isn’t a remote E/R blower shut off - we checked that.