Boat where 34 died was a 'fire
trap' despite passing inspections,
experts say. It's far from alone
Los Angeles Times,
by
Kim Christensen
&
Matt Hamilton
Original Article
Posted By: NorthernDog,
9/8/2019 9:58:12 AM
LOS ANGELES — A day of diving off Santa Cruz Island ended like countless others aboard the Conception, with dozens of divers asleep in tightly arranged bunks that all but filled the belly of the 75-foot boat. As always, there were two ways out in case of emergency — up a curved stairway at the front of the cabin, or through an escape hatch in the ceiling over bunks at the rear. Before dawn on Labor Day, when flames devoured the 38-year-old wooden-hulled vessel, no one below deck made it out of either exit. The only survivors were five crew members who
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Chuzzles 9/8/2019 10:13:48 AM (No. 174511)
The Titanic met the safety standards of the day too. They didn't have enough life boats. Well they did after that disaster. If the coast guard inspected this boat and didn't require more hatches added, this tragedy is on them and congress for allowing a fire trap situation. Do people really want to go diving so badly that they do not use good judgment as well?
5 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
karo 9/8/2019 10:20:32 AM (No. 174516)
The flaw in this boat's design is that both lower-deck exits (the stairway and the escape hatch) led to the middle deck, which was engulfed in fire. Having to escape into the source of danger is a terrible thing.
9 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 9/8/2019 10:27:43 AM (No. 174522)
Where would we be without "experts" who show up as talking heads on CNN after such tragedies?
15 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
earlybird 9/8/2019 11:13:25 AM (No. 174585)
I agree with #3. As someone who has been on boats of many sizes over the years, I was never on one I’d deem completely “safe”. Quarters are cramped. Living aboard is quite different from living in your own home. But so is “living aboard” a train, a plane, an RV.
The reaon many other boats have similar designs is that that is the way boats work best. I suppose everyone could tool around on large, home sized barges with front and back doors, but boats really don’t work very well that way. People sleep below decks.
Those who read the full article will find comparisons to Coast Guard boats where the crew members sleep in 3-tier bunks - in very crowded areas. The bunk room was actually quite long - it and the shower room made up all of the below deck area exept for the engine compartment, which was under the afterdeck. The galley and the bunk room were stacked; the bridge was another layer on top of the galley.
I couldn’t see this article other than in Reading format. If it displayed the illustrations of the boat that I saw in the Times, they were so wrong it was pathetic.
People who do not enjoy the water are great on saying that divers should have better sense, sailors should have better sense, those who choose to live in places where natural disasters occur from time to time should know better. Everyone should stay absolutely safe by living where the experts say they should and only doing recreations that are safe, bla bla bla bla
I would have said that those who go on boats should have a weight/girth limit. Fat people do not belong on boats. They are doomed because passageways will always be too narrow, the standard size hatches like Conception’s 24x24 hatch will always be too small for them, the narrow stairs will always be too diffficult. I don’t know how some of those people managed to get into those bunks. Or any bunks, anywhere.
The truthful in this article say that it was unlikely that passengers could have evacuated because they were almost immediately asphyxiated by in haling noxious smoke. Carbon monoxide. (And that can happen in your own home. Ask your local firefighters.)
Everything in life is a disaster waiting to happen. Think about it.
14 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
LeftCoast 9/8/2019 12:40:37 PM (No. 174679)
#4 I was agreeing w/ your comments until you unnecessarily "went low" like Moochelle to keep "fat" people off boats. That thinking is wrong and offensive on so many levels. Would you be the self-imposed "Heinrich Himmler" as the head of the "Fat Police". Would you stop at just boats? I've been diving since 1967 and never had an issue with "fat" people enjoying themselves on a dive boat. I use to dive w/ a guy (btw on the Conception) who you would refer to as fat and dollar to doughnuts you couldn't keep up w/ him. He also had a hole in his wet suit that water would shoot from like a whale's blowhole when he got back on the boat. Very funny guy. I would've enjoyed the show if you tried to stop him from crossing the gangplank.
4 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
jhpeters2 9/8/2019 1:39:35 PM (No. 174711)
This article like several I have read about this tragedy don't delve into smoke detection. The 5 crew members survived. They were on the 3rd deck. Caught by surprise. Smoke detectors should have been howling long before the ship burst into flame. The detectors will alarm at the slightest amount of smoke, like a slowly smouldering fire. Did anybody on board hear an alarm? If the crew heard the sirens what did they do next? Did the detectors work? If not why not?
I don't expect answers to these questions from the drive by media.
4 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
earlybird 9/8/2019 2:36:11 PM (No. 174761)
Re #5, no intention to offend anyone, I believe that fat persons - as nice as they may be, as able to dive as they may be - are generally less able to move quickly on a boat, get around a boat and its narrow, confined spaces, through a 24x24” emergency hatch, up narrow stairs that were essentially a nearly vertical ladder - in case of an emergency. Their girth makes these moves more difficult, if not impossible, and they certainly take longer.
As for the Moochelle - Heinrich Himmler - Fat Police references, a rather cheap shot. I’ll stick with my original reply. Fat people do not belong on boats. In case of emergency their girth is a hindrance to their safety and the safety of others. Did your amusing friend do OK with emergency hatches? 24x24 is pretty standard as is over bunk placement.
2 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
LeftCoast 9/8/2019 3:33:18 PM (No. 174795)
Earlybird, you're right. The Moochelle reference was a cheap shot for which I'll retract.
0 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Bluefindad 9/8/2019 3:50:14 PM (No. 174807)
Not a diver, but I've bunked on many overnight and multi-day fishing boats on the west coast with very similar berthing arrangements. Always given a safety lecture before departure explaining the location of the fire escape hatch in the berthing area. I always understood that escape would be fairly unlikely in the dark, smoke-filled room in the event of a fire. That's the way it is. Going to sea is worth the risk. One thing is puzzling though - as pointed out by another poster - where were the smoke detectors? Also, how could the fire spread so fast? These things will be the focus of the investigation and hopefully, some corrections will be made. I believe that most Coast Guard regs are written in blood.
One more thing - as for the fat comments above - I've fished with people with prosthetics and various handicaps that prevent them from moving quickly. Should they be excluded? Using the same logic, should fat people be excluded from air travel? Trains? Buses? - because they don't move fast enough in an emergency? Try to remember, the passengers are not military or athletes. They are people out for a memorable experience.
The tragedy of the Conception was an extreme rarity. Thousands of excursions in similar boats set sail every year and he number of accidental deaths is very, very small.
1 person likes this.
This is one of the many reasons I like this site. Two people can disagree without tearing each other apart. Go to some other sites and it's a blood sport. Not that some don't deserve it. LOL
2 people like this.
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Many other boats have similar design, including cramped quarters and narrow escape routes. It was a disaster waiting to happen.