Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[Gdog]

Yup. I’ve slept in one of those, even worse tho as it was the bottom one

I'm tall, and if you are as well, the bottom would be almost impossible.

 

[PDX Diver]

From what is being reported, the crew says the windows in the galley were closed (they said they tried to open some). That means that other than the doorway at the rear of the galley was the only venting point. That doorway has an overhang, so it's not going simply blow out all of the toxic smoke and the fire is going to be eating up the available oxygen below.

A fire originating in the bunk room is bound to wake some who can raise an alarm. In such quarters, someone in the immediate area of the origin of the fire is going to wake up from either the heat or actually being burned before the fire gets completely insurmountable. You can't have anything bigger than what you would have in your living room fireplace in that bunk room without some one down there being aware.

Yet people commonly asphyxiate when they fall asleep in bed with a lit cigarette, so this doesn't hold true.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Can't reply directly to the George Austin comment about the fire starting in the bunkroom but NO ONE in this investigation has definitely said that. We know it didn't start on the wheelhouse deck. But point of origin is a huge question here.

A fire originating in the bunk room is bound to wake some who can raise an alarm.

Not necessarily. Dose of reality from an expert in these things that I deal with.

ONE BREATH of super-heated air can kill you. One breath.

You could also be in a lower bunk, reaslize there's a fire (smoke alarm or no), and you roll out of bed and stand up. You are now 3-5 feet higher than you just were and have now stuck your head (inadvertently) into super-heated air. You take ONE BREATH. You may make it a step or two but you will likely die.

So a lot of this "If only these things that didn't happen had happened then everyone would be OK" are many times rather pointless and often not based on actual evidence or sound principles.

 

[Gdog]

Also, from my recollection from a couple years ago, there is an electrical outlet at the base of the stairs going up from the berths to the salon? Unless I'm mixing that up with a different boat. The reason I remember an outlet is that someone had plugged in a surge protector, and as all the outlets in the galley/salon area were full, I utilized one of the outlets on the surge protector to charge my batteries. If my recollection is accurate, it makes it easier to see how a fire could have started forward of the berths in the lower deck

 

[ChrisM]

I'm tall, and if you are as well, the bottom would be almost impossible.

6’2” and at the time 250 plus (200 now). It wasn’t fun

 

[PDX Diver]

Also, from my recollection from a couple years ago, there is an electrical outlet at the base of the stairs going up from the berths to the salon? Unless I'm mixing that up with a different boat. The reason I remember an outlet is that someone had plugged in a surge protector, and as all the outlets in the galley/salon area were full, I utilized one of the outlets on the surge protector to charge my batteries. If my recollection is accurate, it makes it easier to see how a fire could have started forward of the berths in the lower deck

Oh my, and then the initial smoke would have gone up the staircase, out of reach of the smoke detector.

 

[Bob DBF]

From the aforementioned LA Times article:

John McDevitt, a former assistant fire chief, accredited marine surveyor and chair of a National Fire Protection Assn. committee on boat protection, questioned why both egress points – the stairwell and the hatch – deposited passengers into the galley and adjacent dining area.

“When you put two exits into the same common area, you are not providing two means of egress – it’s still only one,” he said.

I'm kind of over my rant on Legal considerations for the Fire on dive boat Conception in CALegal considerations for the Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

I find it offensive that he uses inflamatory rhetoric "a compliant fire trap" to get his name in the news. I'll bet he doesn't use that terminology in his marine surveys.



Bob

 

[Gdog]

Oh my, and then the initial smoke would have gone up the staircase, out of reach of the smoke detector.

Exactly. Im not saying this was the case here, but it is definitely a possibility. My gut feels a battery or charger was the issue as well. I have ordered one of these....

 

[ChrisM]

I'm kind of over my rant on Legal considerations for the Fire on dive boat Conception in CALegal considerations for the Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

I find it offensive that he uses inflamatory rhetoric "a compliant fire trap" to get his name in the news. I'll bet he doesn't use that terminology in his marine surveys.

Bob

I’ll ditto it here too. Also the word “dungeon,” all terminology clearly designed to evoke an emotional response.

If I were a lawyer who has hired experts before - and I am - I’d wager he’s angling for a retention in one or more of the cases.

What I find interesting though is that he and one other “expert” are stating that both exits egress to the galley. The hatch - access issues aside- spits you basically right onto the open dive deck (and looks like the cartoon actually may be a bit off but shows egress outside the salon doors, when I think it is just (2 feet?) inside. Also someone else mentioned that the design, with a rear wall and two sides, forces you to go toward the deck

 

[NickB-LA]

Can't reply directly to the George Austin comment about the fire starting in the bunkroom but NO ONE in this investigation has definitely said that. We know it didn't start on the wheelhouse deck. But point of origin is a huge question here.


Not necessarily. Dose of reality from an expert in these things that I deal with.

ONE BREATH of super-heated air can kill you. One breath.

You could also be in a lower bunk, reaslize there's a fire (smoke alarm or no), and you roll out of bed and stand up. You are now 3-5 feet higher than you just were and have now stuck your head (inadvertently) into super-heated air. You take ONE BREATH. You may make it a step or two but you will likely die.

So a lot of this "If only these things that didn't happen had happened then everyone would be OK" are many times rather pointless and often not based on actual evidence or sound principles.

Ken, I am well aware of what can happen with superheated air an toxic smoke inhalation. The point is that in that space are are talking about, it is highly unlikely that the fire gets to that point without someone in that bunk room knowing it if the bunk room is the origin. The confines are too dense. Anyway, it's not my intent to get into a

Yet people commonly asphyxiate when they fall asleep in bed with a lit cigarette, so this doesn't hold true.

One person . . .