Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[carriemak]

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?

That accident happened not far from where I live. It is a casino boat and while they were in shallow water many were too frightened to jump.

 

[roakey]

If you do get out of the bunks, do you then have to walk all the way to the back to go out...

To put this in perspective, the bunk area is maybe 25 feet long (estimate), so to go from front to back with short, 2 foot strides is only 12 steps, probably less... Using the phrase "All the way", though in the strictest sense true, seems a bit excessive for such a short distance.

Roak

 

[xmass-Eve]

To put this in perspective, the bunk area is maybe 25 feet long (estimate), so to go from front to back with short, 2 foot strides is only 12 steps, probably less... Using the phrase "All the way", though in the strictest sense true, seems a bit excessive for such a short distance.

Roak

If it's on fire, it can be enough to not escape and die.... For sure not if it's ablaze. I have never been on this boat but they remind me a bit of the day boats in Egypt... Depending on how big the fire is, you will or will not get out.
Anyway, I just wanted to know. I do not blame this company or the crew...

 

[tarponchik]

As a Chicago girl I should have also included the SS Eastland in my list of maritime disasters of modern history. It was a large sight-seeing cruise that capsized in the Chicago River and killed 844 crew and passengers, including entire families.

How The Titanic Caused Chicago's Worst Manmade Disaster – And Killed 844 People

When it comes to fire, there was also Lexington disaster, as pictured by Curier and Ives.

 

[Steve_C]

RE Eastland. This was a large ship. It fell over within a couple of minutes. Many were in inside compartments. Not so surprising that a lot died. Also would not be surprised if a lot of them could not swim.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

To put this in perspective, the bunk area is maybe 25 feet long (estimate), so to go from front to back with short, 2 foot strides is only 12 steps, probably less... Using the phrase "All the way", though in the strictest sense true, seems a bit excessive for such a short distance.

Roak

I seem to recall a reference to "kick-out" windows at the front of the galley. Can you or someone else familiar with the boat confirm that?

 

[infieldg]

On my last trip to Utila I flooded one of my cheap lights with Seawater... Upon opening it -- it looked rusty, nasty, exposed bits but no fire. Just my experience and anything is possible out there

Ditto with my Mares torch, the entire thing completely flooded with seawater from lens to 26650 battery, and when I started to unscrew the battery compartment cap later thickish brown water oozed out but everything was fine - no bulging or anything, cleaned up okay. By no means a guaranteed outcome, but apparently nor is a fire or explosion.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I seem to recall a reference to "kick-out" windows at the front of the galley. Can you or someone else familiar with the boat confirm that?

I don't remember any kickout window, but it wouldn't matter. Nobody could get into the galley. If they had not succumbed to the fumes from the vent fans in each bunk space, they couldn't get to the galley as the fire had blocked both exits into the galley/salon.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

Something that has not been mentioned (I apologize if I have just missed it) is the effect that waking up from sleep has on awareness of surroundings and personal response time. This happens at 3 o’clock in the morning after a day or 2 of diving. People are exhausted and many are probably sleeping soundly. While I have never been in a boat fire, I have been in an apartment fire. My roommates and I were awakened at 5 am by people outside yelling, trying to wake everyone up. Fortunately for us the fire was moving slowly, because it took us a few minutes to fully clear our heads from sleep so that we could understand what was going on and to assess the situation. While we all made it out safely, I’m still amazed how long it took to fully wake up and completely understand what was happening. It’s doubful that anyone on board woke up with complete realization of what was happening.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

The interview posted many pages ago said there were no doors which is what I was going off of. I understood there was a way to secure the boat when nobody was aboard. I would be surprised if the COI allowed those "doors" to be used with passengers aboard. Or that anyone would close them at night at this time of year.

I know everyone is focused on lithium batteries but the galley was all electric, plus I understood the generator ran at night. Plus electrical fires are statistically the most likely on any vessel. A wiring issue behind a cabinet (similar to the fire described by @Wookie on his vessel) could just as easily smolder until it flashed over. With windows and doors open, a photo ionization smoke detector not picking up smoldering smoke even under the best of circumstances, it's not implausible that this started entirely independent of any lithium ions or chargers.

In my limited terrestrial experience with the devices, the main issue I've had with smoke detectors has been trying to shut the darn things off when I've just taken a broiler pan with a bit of sizzling grease in it out of an oven 20 ft away with open windows and a ceiling fan in between. They seem to go off at the slightest puff of anything. Going back to the video of the casino boat going up - working smoke detectors or not, by the time events got to the point at the start of that video (black billowing smoke engulfing the superstructure), the crew above would have certainly known something was up. A little flickering fire and a wisp of smoke I could see going undetected, but not huge billowing smoke clouds.

I don't remember any kickout window, but it wouldn't matter. Nobody could get into the galley. If they had not succumbed to the fumes from the vent fans in each bunk space, they couldn't get to the galley as the fire had blocked both exits into the galley/salon.

If there was a way out the front of the galley and it was not used, that would support the hypothesis that the entire space was ablaze by the point anyone was able to try escaping.