Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[outofofficebrb]

Locked hatch? No one made it out?
Hmmm.
As a veteran firefighter and commercial diver and the fact most of U.S. simply do not know about this grand jury, I'd have a very open mind about this. Something stinks. I'm sorry I offended so many of you, but you can not argue against facts. If you disagree please state specifically which exhibits of the 57 do you disagree with? LCfor911.org

The CG personnel who was fielding the call received no indication that anything was locked or blocked nor did the surviving members of the Conception say that was the case. That was the CG personnel just extrapolating on his own when the surviving crew on the Conception said that the other passengers were trapped. CG then asked if a door was locked and if so, if they could return to go unlock it. They did not reply. Nothing was locked because there is nothing to lock as the main stairway does not have a door.

 

[markmud]

But you are a Mariner. If you’re not, you sure know a lot about being one, or you slept at a holiday inn last night.

Was a professional mariner.
m

 

[seansrs36]

This whole incident has shaken the California dive community. Some people I know knew the majority of the divers that perished in the accident yesterday. What sickens me the most is all the speculation going on. Let the facts come out then pass judgement. I feel extremely sad for the crew. They are going to suffer PTSD for the rest of their lives. Many will battle depression as well. This event is tragic.

 

[markmud]

When I owned the Spree, it burned. It was so fast, it would make you gasp. I gasped for other reasons. She was aluminum. I was in the next compartment aft of the one that burned when I found it on fire. It flashed over when I figured out what was going on. I’m not going to speculate what burned, because that isn’t fair, let’s just say that there could have been a ton of fuel.

My fire started with a bad lamp ballast.

Hi Wookie,

Had there been passengers on Spree, would you have had time to get them rolling out of their racks before Spree became a total conflagration?

I know you sold Spree, so it was not a total constructive loss due to that incident...yes...no?

m

 

[tarponchik]

I’m not going to speculate what burned, because that isn’t fair, let’s just say that there could have been a ton of fuel.

I wonder if you are thinking what I am thinking...

My fire started with a bad lamp ballast.

It doesn't matter how the fire starts, there could be many reasons. It only matters how the fire spreads.

 

[60plus]

To follow from the previous post. there are already a huge number of posts on this and there are presumably going to be a lot more, many involving scenarios and speculation. As soon as some facts are known could we have a separate thread that is restricted to facts and a very few posts.

 

[KevinNM]

To follow from the previous post. there are already a huge number of posts on this and there are presumably going to be a lot more, many involving scenarios and speculation. As soon as some facts are known could we have a separate thread that is restricted to facts and a very few posts.

It's a good idea, but it's likely that it will probably be at least weeks before any reliable facts start coming out. Months before the USCG hearings and years before the NTSB report is released.

 

[rjack321]

This whole incident has shaken the California dive community. Some people I know knew the majority of the divers that perished in the accident yesterday. What sickens me the most is all the speculation going on. Let the facts come out then pass judgement. I feel extremely sad for the crew. They are going to suffer PTSD for the rest of their lives. Many will battle depression as well. This event is tragic.

Most A&I threads are overwhelmed with speculation which dies down after a few weeks then resurfaces if an accident report is completed (rare) or there are legal filings. If the speculation bothers you, then you should sit this one out pending the NTSB report which might be issued perhaps a year from now.

 

[Ron Lee]

How many times have you dived from a socal liveaboard that you are passing judgement and calling them death traps?

34 people below deck. 34 people dead. That justifies the term "death trap" in this case to me.

What sane person would let their spouse or diving children on a boat like this after this event?

As I noted before, the reasonable solution is to stand down from these dive trips until the cause is determined or operators make reasonable assumptions about possible causes and take suitable actions to prevent a recurrence.

 

[Steelyeyes]

It's a good idea, but it's likely that it will probably be at least weeks before any reliable facts start coming out. Months before the USCG hearings and years before the NTSB report is released.

A quick scan of similar NTSB investigations of vessel fires involving a sinking looks like 11 months is about the time from accident to report.