California diving boat fire

[Tsawwassen]

Tragic fire on Monday night with at least 20-26 deaths so far with more missing presumed dead. A family of 5 has perished.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/search-continues-boat-fire-1.5268512
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/04/us/california-boat-fire-family-tragedy/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/all-34-people-on-california-dive-boat-that-was-consumed-by-fire-are-presumed-dead/2019/09/03/9bba34e8-ce7d-11e9-87fa-8501a456c003_story.html

[Mccree]

I read/heard the boat had no fire gear. If true then head will roll.

[puckedoff]

They are surrounded by water, why would they need fire gear.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Mccree

I read/heard the boat had no fire gear. If true then head will roll.

This doesn't appear to be correct.

The Conception has a good safety record, and Coast Guard officials reiterated Tuesday that its onboard firefighting equipment, which is required by law, passed its most recent inspection.

From the above linked WP article.

[Ironhorse]

Very sad. Something must have happened, perhaps during the night, that incapacitated the passengers. Given some time and space, one could grab a PFD or even a BCD, put it on and jump ship.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Very sad. Something must have happened, perhaps during the night, that incapacitated the passengers. Given some time and space, one could grab a PFD or even a BCD, put it on and jump ship.

Maybe it was the fire.

[dubc80]

All the passengers on these boats stay in the quarters below deck. The only escape would be through the stairwells back up to the deck.

If the fire made the stairwells un-passable, you're done. This happened very quickly unfortunately as it sounds like no passengers made it out.

Captain and crew all survived, as their living quarters are all above deck. So they would of just woke up to the alarm/smoke/fire and bail out off the side when the result looked inevitable.

[chummer]

Christ as a firefighter I've been playing out what might have happened in my mind.

Sounds like it was a very fast spreading and hot burning fire.
One would hope they were taken out by the smoke and not the fire itself.

But with the fire above them who knows how much smoke would build up in their quarters. It sounds like an absolutely horrific end for them.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by chummer

Christ as a firefighter I've been playing out what might have happened in my mind.

Sounds like it was a very fast spreading and hot burning fire.
One would hope they were taken out by the smoke and not the fire itself.

But with the fire above them who knows how much smoke would build up in their quarters. It sounds like an absolutely horrific end for them.

I was horrified reading the story.


It sounds like it happened very quickly. They had no chance of getting out.

[OMG!WTF!]

I wonder if the scuba tanks were exploding. That would add a lot of fuel to the fire.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

I wonder if the scuba tanks were exploding. That would add a lot of fuel to the fire.

Well.... air. Which it needs to consume the fuel available elsewhere.

[chummer]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

I wonder if the scuba tanks were exploding. That would add a lot of fuel to the fire.

Ya just compressed air, big difference from oxygen which would have fueled the fire.

[OMG!WTF!]

I'm thinking the boat probably had a bunch of tanks and they would have been exploding probably fairly rapidly adding to the flames and the chaos. It just seems like the fire took off pretty rapidly. Accelerating the fire rather than fueling the fire if that works better.

[Tsawwassen]

Captain charged with seaman's manslaughter in boat fire that killed 34

"Jerry Nehl Boylan allegedly failed to have a night watch or roving patrol."

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/us/ca...out&li=AAggFp5

[Flamenspiel]

Yea, hideous scenario where the owners, captain, and crew failed to take due care. I have been on a few dive boats, personally I hate going bellow decks.

[BlackArcher101]

I can't believe that the aft escape hatch from the cabin area was legal. That thing wouldn't pass in any other industry or vehicle. Imagine 30+ people having to climb onto a bunk and then a hatch with only a 1-2ft clearance and construe your body up through the hole and then sideways out the top. All in a panic. That part is really on the requirements than the captain, but wow.

[Nyah]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I can't believe that the aft escape hatch from the cabin area was legal. That thing wouldn't pass in any other industry or vehicle. Imagine 30+ people having to climb onto a bunk and then a hatch with only a 1-2ft clearance and construe your body up through the hole and then sideways out the top. All in a panic. That part is really on the requirements than the captain, but wow.

It makes me queasy just thinking about it. What a horrific way to die. That's legitimately one of my worst fears, boats freak me out to begin with.

[FurnaceFace]

Definitely corners were cut and mistakes made on that boat.

The last liveaboard trip we were on, they had a (protected) outdoor charging station and a charging station on the upper salon and recommended everyone use. They told us a few times not to leave anything charging when we weren’t in our room...and I think the crew would unplug anything they saw in the room when they cleaned.

[Ironhorse]

Certainly corners were cut. And there is a reason why the Navy always has a fire watch on duty.