Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[tursiops]

Yeah, that was an informative video! And I absolutely cannot grasp why people stayed on the boat, or stood around it while the fire was raging.

....and they didn't even try and get out of the smoke plume, even after they were off the boat!

 

[cerich]

Yeah, that was an informative video! And I absolutely cannot grasp why people stayed on the boat, or stood around it while the fire was raging.

This is Your Brain on Emergencies | | Blogs | CDC

 

[Marie13]

here is a MUCH better one of a boat closer in size and construction.

In this VERY SHORT video you can see how quickly a vessel can be engulfed

Is it just me or were people taking just way too long to get off that boat, especially since the water was so shallow, it appeared to be waist/chest deep?

 

[chillyinCanada]

It looked to me as if they feared breaking their leg or some such due to the water being shallow. The line up, I thought was helping people through the water to actual shore. Perhaps many were elderly or infirm in other ways?

 

[xmass-Eve]

No, there was not. There is a single narrow staircase, which leads from the bunk room up to the very front starboard side, interior corner of the galley/ main salon. Apparently, passengers had to walk from the stern, through the salon and wall of the galley closest to the bow, then ingress or egress up the single interior staircase. There was one emergency exit hatch, leading to the galley floor, accessible by climbing up to an upper level bunk in the back of the bunk room. But most people would have difficulty getting up there one at time, with the lights one. Neither exit took them to exterior deck space without going through the galley which was engulfed.

This is what I wanted to know... If you do get out of the bunks, do you then have to walk all the way to the back to go out or is there a door in the front of the boat that leads to the outside... If not.... Then you're always trapped when the main cabin is on fire.... That seems very... well, dangerous

 

[KevinNM]

Is it just me or were people taking just way too long to get off that boat, especially since the water was so shallow, it appeared to be waist/chest deep?

Consider it's a Casino boat. In my experience there are lot of elderly people at Casinos.

 

[Marie13]

Consider it's a Casino boat. In my experience there are lot of elderly people at Casinos.

Didn't know anything about the boat. That makes, sense, but still, move away from the boat.

 

[cerich]

It looked to me as if they feared breaking their leg or some such due to the water being shallow. The line up, I thought was helping people through the water to actual shore. Perhaps many were elderly or infirm in other ways?

plus a casino boat, I suspect a good % of those aboard may have been older.

Regardless, the herd instinct is strong in people and they will take the cue from the crowd, no crowd panic and.. less likely to act, crowd panic, more likely to panic. That is why first responders are taught to aggressively control a situation and take leadership.

 

[KevinNM]

This is what I wanted to know... If you do get out of the bunks, do you then have to walk all the way to the back to go out or is there a door in the front of the boat that leads to the outside... If not.... Then you're always trapped when the main cabin is on fire.... That seems very... well, dangerous

There may be an entrance on the port side, as there seems to be a walkway leading to the bow from the dive deck on the port side. There clearly is no entrance on the starboard side.

 

[KathyV]

I remember seeing on the original WTTW (Chicago PBS station) documentary on the Eastland made back in the 90s (maybe?) that one couple was late because the wife took too long getting ready. After they missed the Eastland, the husband never complained about how long it took his wife to get ready again. A new documentary was aired by WTTW in July near the anniversary.

The Eastland is the greatest maritime disaster on the Great Lakes.

I found this video online:

The Eastland Disaster | Chicago Stories