Very interesting article; thank you for posting! I'd heard about this fire, but hadn't read much (frank admission: it didn't have the number of casualties the Conception did). Your detailed report hearkens back to issues from the Conception disaster. A few thoughts:
"The Aggressor Fleet issued a statement about the fire, which did little to get within the good graces of the survivors, by failing to take any responsibility or show remorse."
In today's litigious society, nobody is going to make a public proclamation taking any responsibility after a high profile disaster where damages might be enormous.
I see these 2 statements:
"After everyone was accounted for at the muster station and the order to evacuate was given, one guest apparently decided to return to their room during the evacuation to retrieve something and is missing. All other guests are safe."
"Sue was a roommate of the woman, Trish Kessler, 54, a mother of two, who died, and she was disgusted at how the company attempted to malign her and take the spotlight off their responsibility by claiming she had returned to her cabin for her laptop."
So, is Sue disputing that Kessler returned to her cabin for her laptop? Whatever else went on, I think safety people would say that was a no-no. Granted, I might've done the same thing, but the fact remains. Later in your report:
"There was no accounting for passengers at any muster station on the craft, and the passengers believe that Trish Keppler was unable to escape the lower deck through the emergency hatch, despite the crew claiming that she had been at the nonexistent muster station but returned below decks."
That seems to imply she couldn't escape to begin with rather than got out and went back. With all the chaos people went through, what's the truth? Who to believe? Either way it's a tragedy, back after all the discussions about the Conception's hatch being viewed as inadequate, this is a big deal.
"When they opened their cabin door, they smelled acrid smoke. Within 30 seconds, they were out of the cabin and tried the normal stairway exit route but were forced back by the heat and smoke from the fire.
They both retreated to the emergency escape hatch toward the forward part of the boat, where they climbed through to the crew quarters after waking the man who was sleeping on top of it. The smoke and fire were quickly spreading. Had they waited another 30 seconds, they would not have made it. The smell of burning PVC-covered cable revealed chlorine gas, which would have impeded their escape. Within 15 minutes, the boat was on fire from stern to bow, and they had to jump for their lives."
This speaks to concerns from the Conception disaster discussions. The primary escape route failed; they had to go to the fallback, a hatch. I wonder what diameter hatch, and whether big obese people couldn't fit through? It was a time-sensitive escape; wonder how many people couldn't got out via the hatch in what time frame? The time frame for the boat to be aflame end-to-end is very interesting!