CONCEPTION FIRE - NTSB REPORT & NEW USCG RULES

[rjack321]

Or they could have just been charging, with many others, on mess deck table(s). Wood, vinyl, and fiberglass burn easily at lithium fire tempatures.

Before the fire it was not uncommon to have large numbers of batteries charging overnight, unattended.

They built models and started fires in them and eventually concluded it started in a trash can - NOT at the charging station.

 

[Bob DBF]

They built models and started fires in them and eventually concluded it started in a trash can - NOT at the charging station.

That is their conclusion. Do you believe that it is the only way a lithium battery fire can happen, or should we pay more attention to lithium batteries in general?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

That is their conclusion. Do you believe that it is the only way a lithium battery fire can happen, or should we pay more attention to lithium batteries in general?

Yes, that is a hypothesis like all the rest, and that’s all it is. Nobody knows for certain what exactly caused the fire.
My hypothesis is that the ignition source was an exploding lithium Ion battery located at the charging station, and the secondary fuel most likely to combust at such a rapid rate close by to the ignition source was the gang of boat/dive cover-up coats that hung in and around the doorway of the boat. The battery charging area was right inside the doorway.
The coats are suspended off the ground so if ignited they can draw air, they hang with air spaces in and around them to further draw air, and they are made out of highly flammable materials.
That is my hypothesis, and that’s all it is.

 

[boulderjohn]

If all the science experts who worked hard for a couple years to determine the cause of the fire had known they could have gotten the correct answers by simply asking the experts on ScubaBoard, they would have saved a lot of time and money and avoided the embarrassment of being so very wrong.

 

[Bob DBF]

If all the science experts who worked hard for a couple years to determine the cause of the fire had known they could have gotten the correct answers by simply asking the experts on ScubaBoard, they would have saved a lot of time and money and avoided the embarrassment of being so very wrong.

From the NTSB report.

3. The origin of the fire on the Conception was likely inside the aft portion of the salon.
4. Although a definitive ignition source cannot be determined, the most likely ignition sources
include the electrical distribution system of the vessel, unattended batteries being charged,
improperly discarded smoking materials, or another undetermined ignition source.
5. The exact timing of the ignition cannot be determined.

How would my comments, or the scenario @Eric Sedletzky described be inconsistent with their conclusion?

 

[dmaziuk]

How would my comments, or the scenario @Eric Sedletzky described be inconsistent with their conclusion?

They can't be.

... or another undetermined ignition source.
5. The exact timing of the ignition cannot be determined.

pretty much covers all possible bases, so neither can the trash can theory.

 

[KevinNM]

The NTSB does not employ the leading experts on fire investigation and did not perform numerous test fires to produce their conclusion. This does not mean that all fire in investigations are high quality and reliabe, there has been shown to have a lot of assumptions taught to investigations that have no underlying science, but if the process was as described that is about as good as we will get. If you can replicate the fire best by that approach it’s reasonable to assume that this is the most likely root of the fire. You’d need to actually see the report and full description of their methodology to be be sure.

And I pains me to say nice things about the clown show that is the ATF.

 

[pauldw]

From the NTSB report.

3. likely inside the aft portion of the salon.
4. cannot be determined...most likely...or another undetermined ignition source.
5. cannot be determined.

In other words, they don't know, they can't know, they never will know, and neither will we.

 

[Bob DBF]

In other words, they don't know, they can't know, they never will know, and neither will we.

Exactly. Eric has spent more time aboard those boats than I did, as I pefered the Peace or Truth because of their layouts, even though they were older.

Bob
Also State of Jefferson

 

[nolatom]

Here's the link to the SoCal forum and our presentation/discussion of all of this:

https://scubaboard.com/community/threads/conception-tragedy-three-years-later-link.625194/

o

Latest news this morning is, a new charge against Conception’s Captain, which now alleges “gross negligence, will go forward.

I couldn’t link the article but that’s the situation.