I think this drawing is not correct. See earlier posts, esp by Larryjd1 , for example Fire on dive boat Conception in CA.
Fire on dive boat Conception in CA
- Thread starter divezonescuba
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
- Status
AfterDark
Contributor
Just heard on the news that the hatch was above a bunk, consider the source alphabet soup news.
PDX Diver
Registered
Crew members from the bridge went to the double doors of the galley to get to the stairs and escape hatch that led to the passengers in the bunk room below deck, but that area was engulfed in flames, Homendy said.
more at the link .[/QUOTE]
A good shot of the crews' quarters/bridge and the stairs down that were blocked by fire (sister ship Vision)
more at the link .[/QUOTE]
A good shot of the crews' quarters/bridge and the stairs down that were blocked by fire (sister ship Vision)
- Messages
- 19,718
- Reaction score
- 18,566
- Location
- Philadelphia and Boynton Beach
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
My impression was that any exit from the shower room was completely separate from the exit from the berth location and would not have been available.for use. Seems the level for access was the same for each.
I agree and I covered that in my post last night. Depending upon where the opening of exit above it is facing, you may want the bottom of the ladder up against the wall and the top of the ladder closest to the opening above.
You need to consider various factors. One is that getting to the top, having to turn 180 degrees to face the opening in the cabinet above, then climb another rung or two on the ladder does not seem good. Do whatever makes sense considering the actual layout.
I look at the picture of the guy on a upper bunk with the emergency hatch above him and that does not look like an easy way to get out.
Maybe you have a ladder running 90 degrees to the opening. Testing makes sense.
The other aspect is that emergency egress with both those current access points unavailable should be considered.
- Messages
- 19,718
- Reaction score
- 18,566
- Location
- Philadelphia and Boynton Beach
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
why not?
After VC Star article:
"She said one crew member reported waking up to a noise, leaving his bunk and seeing flames from the galley. Homendy noted that he said he did not hear a smoke alarm."
- confirms that particular crewmen was not woken up by the watch that would have spotted the fire but by the noise of the actual fire
"He tried to get down the ladder, but flames had engulfed it, Homendy said. The crew members from the bridge jumped down to the main deck and one broke a leg, Homendy said."
- explains quite well the broken leg and confirms the crew at that point didn't think twice to rush to save the passengers
"In this case, smoke detectors were not interconnected between the bunk room and bridge, she said."
- confirms if everyone was sleeping or if ear buds theory was true for the watchman, you might not have heard the fire until it was raging
One more thing is on my mind: dark night, no city lights around, how possible is to not see even then slightest trace of fire down below you when you are up and watching?
Smoke wise, if you are on top deck and sit in the chair and look fore, boat is at anchor and heading towards wind, it is quite possible not to "smell" anything until the fire its raging, as all the smoke gets blown off to the back of the boat.
Just my thoughts so far. Please criticize freely.
"She said one crew member reported waking up to a noise, leaving his bunk and seeing flames from the galley. Homendy noted that he said he did not hear a smoke alarm."
- confirms that particular crewmen was not woken up by the watch that would have spotted the fire but by the noise of the actual fire
"He tried to get down the ladder, but flames had engulfed it, Homendy said. The crew members from the bridge jumped down to the main deck and one broke a leg, Homendy said."
- explains quite well the broken leg and confirms the crew at that point didn't think twice to rush to save the passengers
"In this case, smoke detectors were not interconnected between the bunk room and bridge, she said."
- confirms if everyone was sleeping or if ear buds theory was true for the watchman, you might not have heard the fire until it was raging
One more thing is on my mind: dark night, no city lights around, how possible is to not see even then slightest trace of fire down below you when you are up and watching?
Smoke wise, if you are on top deck and sit in the chair and look fore, boat is at anchor and heading towards wind, it is quite possible not to "smell" anything until the fire its raging, as all the smoke gets blown off to the back of the boat.
Just my thoughts so far. Please criticize freely.
KevinNM
Contributor
Someone posted a video they took on the boat. There are two stairs next to each other at the forward end of the salon. The left one goes into the berthing, the right to the shower. So if the salon is on fire that would be hard to get to.
But maybe possible if you were not overcome with smoke. The problem with overhead exits is that hot smoke accumulates there first.
outofofficebrb
HARRO HUNNAYYY
A charging station could just be a cluster of electrical outlets or where people end up charging their electronics. The electrical itself could have been fine. It could be due to the any number of batteries or chargers that any of the guests brought on board so "allowing it to continue" or its "setup being flawed" might not actually be the case. A few years ago, there were many incidents of non-OEM chargers being used on various electronics and how it was a fire hazard in some instances. This could be that.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/surviving-crew-member-thought-phone-charging-station-might-have-sparked-boat-fire/ar-AAGRKGB?li=BBS2yio
Surviving crew member thought phone charging station might have sparked boat fire
Hannah Fry
22 mins ago
One of the crew members aboard the dive boat Conception hadn't been asleep long when a noise jolted him awake.
He swung open the door of the wheelhouse — the top level of the 75-foot boat, located just above the galley — and was greeted by flames.
As the fire raged in the predawn hours of Labor Day, the vessel's captain made a frantic mayday call to the Coast Guard. Then he and four crew members jumped from the wheelhouse and climbed into a dinghy to get help from the Grape Escape, a fishing boat anchored nearby off Santa Cruz Island.
Once aboard, the crew member who had been jolted awake shook as he recounted the horrific story to Grape Escape owner Shirley Hansen. His theory, Hansen said, was that the fire started in the galley, where cellphones and cameras had been plugged in to charge overnight.
"The impression I got was that the fire was already too big to do anything," Hansen said in an interview Wednesday.
The cause of the fire, which killed 34 people, is now the subject of an intensive investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal and county agencies. Investigators are trying to determine where and how it started.
The concern about the charging station in the galley is one possibility.
Roy Hauser, who designed the Conception and commissioned its construction in 1981, suggested another. He said he thinks, based in part on footage he viewed of the wood-hulled boat being ravaged by fire, that the blaze started in the bunk area and spread so rapidly that the 34 people there could not get out.
"This had to have been, in my estimation, one of those lithium battery chargers," Hauser told The Times. "This happened in the belly of the boat. Those people did not have a chance to get out: From stem to stern, that boat was burning."
The Conception was one of three dive boats operated out of Santa Barbara Harbor by Truth Aquatics Inc., a long-established operation founded by Hauser in 1974 and now owned by Glen Fritzler.
The diesel-powered boat had three decks: the wheelhouse on top, the main dive deck in the middle and the bunk room on the bottom.
The sleeping area had 20 single bunks and 13 doubles, some stacked three high, records show. When fire consumed the boat, the bunks were occupied by 33 passengers and one crew member.
For those in the bunk room, there were two exits. At the bow end of the room was a staircase that led up to the galley area. Toward the stern, an escape hatch located above one of the bunks led to a mess area next to the galley — and just a few feet from the large, open main deck.
Officials said Tuesday that both exits from the bunk area were blocked by fire. Hauser said passengers should not have been impeded by flames — if they had been able to get to the escape hatch from the bunk room.
"When you come out of the escape hatch you look straight out to the main deck — you're within 3 or 4 feet of the main deck. All you have to do is lurch forward," Hauser said. "I don't think those people ever had a chance to get out of their bunks."
Boat fires often start in engine compartments, where fuel ignition sources can combine. Other such fires have been traced to electrical sources, such as wiring harnesses or batteries, or to external causes such as fires in marinas or storage facilities.
Hauser said the rapid spread of fire caused by a lithium battery could explain why no one got out.
The Federal Aviation Administration prohibits airline passengers from stowing devices containing lithium batteries — such as those in cellphones, laptops and cameras — in checked luggage unless they are turned off and protected from damage. As of Aug. 1, the FAA had recorded 265 air or airport incidents involving lithium batteries in cargo or baggage.
The U.S. Navy and others in the dive industry also have expressed concerns about lithium batteries, which in various sizes are used to power everything from automobiles to hoverboards. They also power smaller devices, such as cellphones and camera equipment, that can be carried aboard boats.
"Lithium cells and batteries offer many advantages compared to other power sources," U.S. Navy guidelines state. "However, they are high-energy devices and shall be considered hazardous at all times."
Mike Strong, a Phoenix-area PADI master dive instructor, said, "We've all seen these batteries go," alluding to reports of cellphones, e-cigarettes and lithium car batteries catching fire.
"They're a major safety issue," he said, noting that he charges his batteries in a fireproof container.
And yet, on some boats, people have their camera and dive equipment charging at outlets in bunk rooms, in the galley or in the salon, he said.
"Most dive boats now require you to charge them externally on the deck," Strong said. "There are fewer combustibles out there and more firefighting equipment."
Dale Sheckler, a longtime diver who's been on the Conception roughly 100 times, said there was a main charging station in the galley. A number of AC power outlets — the power strips one might have at home — are available for charging cellphones, batteries for strobes, underwater lighting and laptops.
The main charging station would be "directly above the bunk bed areas," he said.
There are conflicting account about whether power outlets were available in the sleeping quarters. Sheckler said he thought there were some there and in the restroom area. But he recalls the galley area as the main charging station.
"You can plug in overnight," he said. "Sometimes with a lot of people on board, there'd be competition for space."
Gerry Lazzareschi, a physician who's led seven trips on the Conception over the past 20 years, said power outlets were located every few feet along a ledge that lined the galley. He did not recall outlets in the sleeping quarters.
"There were never any wires haphazardly hanging out," Lazzareschi said of the outlets. "It was all very well appointed."
Hauser, the boat's designer, said there were electrical outlets in the bunk room, where he fears the blaze started and spread rapidly.
Long since retired, Hauser, 75, said he has not yet spoken with Fritzler, his former partner and Truth Aquatics' current owner, and has no inside information on the fire. But even though he has been out of the business for years, Hauser said, he is distraught by the Labor Day catastrophe on the Conception.
"I'm devastated," Hauser said. "My God, we did this so people could go out and have fun and dive — not die. Especially in that magnitude. It's unbelievable."
Times staff writer Laura Newberry contributed to this report.
Surviving crew member thought phone charging station might have sparked boat fire
Hannah Fry
22 mins ago
One of the crew members aboard the dive boat Conception hadn't been asleep long when a noise jolted him awake.
He swung open the door of the wheelhouse — the top level of the 75-foot boat, located just above the galley — and was greeted by flames.
As the fire raged in the predawn hours of Labor Day, the vessel's captain made a frantic mayday call to the Coast Guard. Then he and four crew members jumped from the wheelhouse and climbed into a dinghy to get help from the Grape Escape, a fishing boat anchored nearby off Santa Cruz Island.
Once aboard, the crew member who had been jolted awake shook as he recounted the horrific story to Grape Escape owner Shirley Hansen. His theory, Hansen said, was that the fire started in the galley, where cellphones and cameras had been plugged in to charge overnight.
"The impression I got was that the fire was already too big to do anything," Hansen said in an interview Wednesday.
The cause of the fire, which killed 34 people, is now the subject of an intensive investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal and county agencies. Investigators are trying to determine where and how it started.
The concern about the charging station in the galley is one possibility.
Roy Hauser, who designed the Conception and commissioned its construction in 1981, suggested another. He said he thinks, based in part on footage he viewed of the wood-hulled boat being ravaged by fire, that the blaze started in the bunk area and spread so rapidly that the 34 people there could not get out.
"This had to have been, in my estimation, one of those lithium battery chargers," Hauser told The Times. "This happened in the belly of the boat. Those people did not have a chance to get out: From stem to stern, that boat was burning."
The Conception was one of three dive boats operated out of Santa Barbara Harbor by Truth Aquatics Inc., a long-established operation founded by Hauser in 1974 and now owned by Glen Fritzler.
The diesel-powered boat had three decks: the wheelhouse on top, the main dive deck in the middle and the bunk room on the bottom.
The sleeping area had 20 single bunks and 13 doubles, some stacked three high, records show. When fire consumed the boat, the bunks were occupied by 33 passengers and one crew member.
For those in the bunk room, there were two exits. At the bow end of the room was a staircase that led up to the galley area. Toward the stern, an escape hatch located above one of the bunks led to a mess area next to the galley — and just a few feet from the large, open main deck.
Officials said Tuesday that both exits from the bunk area were blocked by fire. Hauser said passengers should not have been impeded by flames — if they had been able to get to the escape hatch from the bunk room.
"When you come out of the escape hatch you look straight out to the main deck — you're within 3 or 4 feet of the main deck. All you have to do is lurch forward," Hauser said. "I don't think those people ever had a chance to get out of their bunks."
Boat fires often start in engine compartments, where fuel ignition sources can combine. Other such fires have been traced to electrical sources, such as wiring harnesses or batteries, or to external causes such as fires in marinas or storage facilities.
Hauser said the rapid spread of fire caused by a lithium battery could explain why no one got out.
The Federal Aviation Administration prohibits airline passengers from stowing devices containing lithium batteries — such as those in cellphones, laptops and cameras — in checked luggage unless they are turned off and protected from damage. As of Aug. 1, the FAA had recorded 265 air or airport incidents involving lithium batteries in cargo or baggage.
The U.S. Navy and others in the dive industry also have expressed concerns about lithium batteries, which in various sizes are used to power everything from automobiles to hoverboards. They also power smaller devices, such as cellphones and camera equipment, that can be carried aboard boats.
"Lithium cells and batteries offer many advantages compared to other power sources," U.S. Navy guidelines state. "However, they are high-energy devices and shall be considered hazardous at all times."
Mike Strong, a Phoenix-area PADI master dive instructor, said, "We've all seen these batteries go," alluding to reports of cellphones, e-cigarettes and lithium car batteries catching fire.
"They're a major safety issue," he said, noting that he charges his batteries in a fireproof container.
And yet, on some boats, people have their camera and dive equipment charging at outlets in bunk rooms, in the galley or in the salon, he said.
"Most dive boats now require you to charge them externally on the deck," Strong said. "There are fewer combustibles out there and more firefighting equipment."
Dale Sheckler, a longtime diver who's been on the Conception roughly 100 times, said there was a main charging station in the galley. A number of AC power outlets — the power strips one might have at home — are available for charging cellphones, batteries for strobes, underwater lighting and laptops.
The main charging station would be "directly above the bunk bed areas," he said.
There are conflicting account about whether power outlets were available in the sleeping quarters. Sheckler said he thought there were some there and in the restroom area. But he recalls the galley area as the main charging station.
"You can plug in overnight," he said. "Sometimes with a lot of people on board, there'd be competition for space."
Gerry Lazzareschi, a physician who's led seven trips on the Conception over the past 20 years, said power outlets were located every few feet along a ledge that lined the galley. He did not recall outlets in the sleeping quarters.
"There were never any wires haphazardly hanging out," Lazzareschi said of the outlets. "It was all very well appointed."
Hauser, the boat's designer, said there were electrical outlets in the bunk room, where he fears the blaze started and spread rapidly.
Long since retired, Hauser, 75, said he has not yet spoken with Fritzler, his former partner and Truth Aquatics' current owner, and has no inside information on the fire. But even though he has been out of the business for years, Hauser said, he is distraught by the Labor Day catastrophe on the Conception.
"I'm devastated," Hauser said. "My God, we did this so people could go out and have fun and dive — not die. Especially in that magnitude. It's unbelievable."
Times staff writer Laura Newberry contributed to this report.
- Status
Similar threads
