Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[PDX Diver]

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



One person . . .

Yes, but it's the one person that you would expect to be burned awake.

 

[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.

Not my point at all. I am actually coming from a point of sound principles. One of those sound principles of reality is that the most logical scenario is typically the real one. There are several ways that levels of toxicity and superheated air could incapacitate the entire bunk room. The fire originating in the bunk room is not the most sound of them.

My point is only that the bunk room being the point of origin is one of the less likely. That's not to say that's not what happened, it certainly could have. But then we get back to weighing the odds and we get back to it's unlikely.

 

[NickB-LA]

Yes, but it's the one person that you would expect to be burned awake.

Yes, one person could sleep through that for one reason or another. We aren't talking about one person.

At any rate, as I have said, my point is not to argue that the bunk room can not and is not the point of origin. My point is that there are other scenarios that make more sense.

 

[tursiops]

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....

View attachment 539091

Why are these charging bags apparently all marked for Li-Po batteries, when it seems to be Li-Ion batteries that have the safety problems?

 

[PDX Diver]

I'm repeating myself from an earlier post, but I think it significant. Note the advanced stage of burn-through in the hull at the bunk level in the pictures and how it compares so equally to the deck level. Then imagine the convection air flow up through the staircase when it does burn through, it would create a huge towering inferno as was described. The boat was essentially destroyed to the water level in the 15 minutes it took first responders to arrive. It seems a fire started in the salon would have to burn down to the bunk level, and I don't see evidence this in the pictures. Just my nonprofessional observation.

 

[PDX Diver]

I'm repeating myself from an earlier post, but I think it significant. Note the advanced stage of burn-through in the hull at the bunk level in the pictures and how it compares so equally to the deck level. Then imagine the convection air flow up through the staircase when it does burn through, it would create a huge towering inferno as was described. The boat was essentially destroyed to the water level in the 15 minutes it took first responders to arrive. It seems a fire started in the salon would have to burn down to the bunk level, and I don't see evidence this in the pictures. Just my nonprofessional observation.

Sorry, I should have included a pic.

 

[NickB-LA]

I'm repeating myself from an earlier post, but I think it significant. Note the advanced stage of burn-through in the hull at the bunk level in the pictures and how it compares so equally to the deck level. Then imagine the convection air flow up through the staircase when it does burn through, it would create a huge towering inferno as was described. The boat was essentially destroyed to the water level in the 15 minutes it took first responders to arrive. It seems a fire started in the salon would have to burn down to the bunk level, and I don't see evidence this in the pictures. Just my nonprofessional observation.

Conversely (and this is not argumentative in intent, simply trying to get to what makes the most sense), based on the crews' account of how they walked out on that second deck and then jumped onto the dive deck, a fire that originated in the bunk room and grew up to the galley would make for an incredibly hot conflagration that would make such an egress unlikely.

However, a fully involved fire in the galley that still allows the crew to walk across the upper deck could easily start to burn downwards once the fuel above was expended, especially since the upper decks obviously collapsed down on the bunk room at some point - as is evident from the photos from the aftermath.

 

[StefinSB]

Why are these charging bags apparently all marked for Li-Po batteries, when it seems to be Li-Ion batteries that have the safety problems?

LiPo’s are worse and often of questionable quality. They are, however, primarily known for RC gear but used elsewhere. I started with a “bag” but now charge/store all of my LiPo’s in metal ammo containers. One think that disaster did is to rethink how carelessly I charge all my non-RC devices. I currently moved all charges for cell phones/tablet/ereader/1850 cells to one location and installed a fire alarm right above them.

 

[george_austin]

Why are these charging bags apparently all marked for Li-Po batteries, when it seems to be Li-Ion batteries that have the safety problems?

Li- Po batteries have pretty much the same safety issues and are similar in lethality and hydrogen fluoride release when burning. Plenty of RC modellers have lost everything from defective or substandard Li-Po batteries and or their chargers

 

[Sven-G]

According to Marinetraffic.com the salvage barge DBSalta Verde is back in Port Hueneme ( MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic ) and no boats show up in Platt's cove. Has there been any report to the effect that the wreck has been brought to the mainland or maybe they just suspended operations during the wind event ?

The LA Times just answered my question ... it is the wind.

Salvage efforts to recover Conception dive boat off Santa Cruz Island have been suspended