Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[opisthobranch]

Once again, there are no doors.

My understanding is that there were sliding doors that were normally only closed when the boat was docked. I think you can see the door just forward of the starboard head in the video. The door slides in behind the forward wall of the head.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

https://www.latimes.com/california/...ard-conception-as-fire-ravaged-boat?_amp=true This story says other wish. Double doors that could not be opened? I only want clarification not a argument. Thank You

“The galley area was engulfed in flames,” Homendy said, recounting what the crew member told investigators. “They tried to enter through the double doors but couldn’t get in because of the flames."
Nothing in the article about doors that couldn't be opened.

 

[Kelp Boy]

I don’t believe the fire aboard the Conception started in the sleeping area for the reasons given below. First, my apologies. This is only the third social media post of my life. I’m not very good at this.

Please read my first post earlier on this thread. I have underground mining training. A fire underground is as least as threatening as one on a boat. It may take one or more HOURS to exit the mine. We are very sensitive to air flow and air quality. As a geologist, I am frequently by myself. I visit older parts of the mine. If there is no risk of explosion, I use a match to test air quality. I strike it below my knees and lift my hand slowly above my head. If the match goes out, I may have a problem with carbon monoxide. Due to its atomic weight, carbon monoxide rises above diatomic nitrogen and oxygen. This is why we are instructed to crawl out of a burning building! Those of you who have real fire experience, please correct me where I am wrong. My training is very old and has never been tested!

The sleeping area on the Conception consisted of many “compartments” separated from each other by curtains. With air being pumped in from above deck and distributed to each compartment, there is positive air pressure in each compartment relative to the hallway. Smoke from a fire in one part of the sleeping area cannot readily penetrate other compartments because the air pressure is higher in the compartment than in the hallway. Most of the smoke must thus exit up the stairway. A fire so powerful that is overwhelms the curtain barriers and asphyxiates all of the occupants at the same time without anyone raising a cry seems unlikely to me. This is why I am focused on the ventilation system.

By the way, we see the reverse in hospitals. Patient rooms for highly infectious diseases have negative pressure. Air cannot flow from the patient room into the adjoining hallway. But obviously doors are much better barriers than curtains.

Disclaimer: I make my living in the IT world. All of my training and underground experience dates from a prior century.

 

[shoredivr]

It’s astonishing how much plastic, fibreglass, foam, glued and so on that produce toxic smoke in modern house construction, never mind boat construction. A client who is a local volunteer fireman mentioned that composite beams contain glued that burn hot and quickly. Something like in an older house, pre-1950s, bricks, plaster, wood etc construction (and I guess without renovations), the second storey floor would be sturdy for 20 minutes with a fire in the room below. In a modern, up to date and code house with composite beams, something like 5 minutes and the second floor is burnt through.

 

[Paco II]

"They tried to enter through the double doors but couldn’t get in because of the flames."

That very likely was just a reference to that entrance to the galley. The article does not say they could not open the doors. As others have mentioned, my one time on the Conception those doors were never closed.

https://www.latimes.com/california/...ard-conception-as-fire-ravaged-boat?_amp=true This story says other wish. Double doors that could not be opened? I only want clarification not a argument. Thank You

 

[wgw04024]

Thanks for sure, no offense intended.

While I'm requesting unlikely and costly changes, I'd like to see an "open only in case of emergency" door at the top of the stairs. Yes, it would essentially open to the water, but would mean you wouldn't have to traverse the cabin & galley to get out.

View attachment 538928

In the first picture, was the crew sleeping in what is essentially the top (third) floor of the vessel? The second level would be the galley, and bottom level the bunks?

 

[tursiops]

In the first picture, was the crew sleeping in what is essentially the top (third) floor of the vessel? The second level would be the galley, and bottom level the bunks?

yes

 

[PDX Diver]

Yeah I agree with you, my apologies and I have to admit that the position of the victims if they were still retained in the bunks would be a very simple clue that I hadn’t considered. These scenarios are so repulsive that it is hard to really work through in my head.

My understanding is when the boat first sank with the stern resting on the sea floor and the bow protruding out of the water it spilled most of the victims. Four were recovered on the surface and four were observed resting on the bottom near the boat. After the boat sank to the bottom (inverted) divers observed 5-6 victims in the wreckage, these could have been in the bottom bunks (it would collapse on these) and be such indication, the divers could probably ascertain this. And those in the bottom bunks would be below the smoke and most likely to awake and at least exit the bunk? This would support the asphyxiation estimate.

This would leave some 20 victims drifting away from the boat in the current, and divers having to search. What a solemn task...

 

[Somesbar]

Thank you all for the replies. Yes I get it now. The double door reference appears to be just that. But I still find it odd that it is referenced at all. Why would a crewman say that? I have looked at all the vids I can find. It appears to be a open passage way to the back deck. Yet the doors are there and operational per posters here.

 

[telemonster]

If this is a general rule of thumb: "you don't put smoke detectors in galleys", is it time for a rethink of this rule? Or at least inverse connect the smoke detector with the range hood, no human interaction required.

Seems like it should at least be present & active when the cabin/galley is unoccupied

There are other sensors like heat detectors that can trigger on rate of heat change.
Smoke detection isn't the only option.