Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[Diving Dubai]

Key question though - in the drills you mention, are all the participants sound asleep in a totally darkened cabin?

No.

The cabin is dark, the participants have no idea where they will sit and you try to make it realistic. Getting 850 people off a plane with 50% of exits "out of order" is no mean feat

However it's recognised that you cannot replicate human behaviour in a stressful situation - for instance there are videos of passengers in a real life incident tryign to get their baggage from overhead lockers - delaying the evac. Hence the evac test time is set deliberately short, as in real life you would (hope) to have more time.

Since some kind of battery/electrical fire seems to be a possibility, where on the boat would camera/light/DPV batteries be charging?

Maybe, but how is a small fire able to engulf a vessel so quickly that it is not possible to raise the alarm, carry out basic fire fighting and perform a passenger evac?

 

[Scuba-74]

Even the fancier lobs that I've been on, only had a staircase at one end and a hatch at the other. Ergo, I don't find that unusual. That said, there have been far fewer guests aboard the lobs that I've been aboard.

I've only been on one well-known budget LOB with bunk accommodations not unlike the ones on the Conception, judging by the pictures. That boat had roughly half of the capacity of the Conception, yet people were split into 4 different bunk cabins, with 4 staircases leading directly to open deck. And there were no 3-level bunks. Even with that layout it would take some time for everyone to go topside.

The more I look at the pictures others posted of the Conception and its layout, the crazier it seems that this was considered adequate by professionals who had to re-certify the boat over all these years.

 

[Scubaroo]

This is just horrific.

I did one of these trips (possibly on Conception) back in 2003 before moving away from California. It was one of the highlights of the time I spent diving in California.

My heart aches for the family, friends and crew involved.

 

[Hiszpan]

Could be. I Googled the Wave Dancer tragedy of 2001, 20 souls lost. At the time I'm posting this, we don't know how many souls lost in this tragedy.
The Wave Dancer Tragedy: Undercurrent 04/2005

I just read it, so many bad decisions taken during that one...

One common parallel - guests inside the lower part of the boat unable to come out

I'm just sitting in front of the TV and listening to ABC news podcast, I think they said crew members that survived mentuoned they heard something like "flooding" sound in the middle of the night. I will try to listen again just to make sure I understood correctly so don't quote me on that yet.

 

[Somesbar]

There is no gasoline. The boat had Diesel engines.

Here is a good vid of the Vision one of their boats . It appears to be the same What I am talking about is the gasoline used in the small outboard driven boats as seen in this vid and others. I believe the crew used one to get to Grape Escape. For multiday trips they would have more than the 5 gallon can that rides in the boat. I like others can't understand the speed this fire must of had. A accelerant was involved

 

[dberry]

Key question though - in the drills you mention, are all the participants sound asleep in a totally darkened cabin?

Picturing 33 people waking in darkness and the ensuing pandemonium gives me nightmares.
Would the bunk area be in total darkness, or would there be low-level lighting? And assuming smoke / fire detectors were active, would lights have come on automatically with an alarm? Emergency back-up lights in case of power failure?

We've booked a Caribbean LOB for December and requested a cabin on the main deck. We were thinking in terms of convenience, but now I'll want to look over the layout in terms of safety and egress.

 

[Somesbar]

Here is a good vid of the Vision one of their boats . It appears to be the same What I am talking about is the gasoline used in the small outboard driven boats as seen in this vid and others. I believe the crew used one to get to Grape Escape. For multiday trips they would have more than the 5 gallon can that rides in the boat. I like others can't understand the speed this fire must of had. A accelerant was involved

 

[Rooster59]

Where was propane stored? Vapor is heavier than air

 

[Somesbar]

 

[hammet]

Where was propane stored? Vapor is heavier than air

USCG requires it to be stored outside or in a dedicated, vented locker where the vent is the lowest point.