Jump to content

Bad boat fire off of LA

Beau Vine

By Beau Vine
in Daily Texan

 Share

Recommended Posts

Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105161

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I'm falling on the side that it's too early to put blame on anyone until  more fact are known.

Out of curiosity, would an excursion like this have someone awake standing watch? It would seem like from a safety and customer service point of view you would want one person always awake in case there is any type of trouble or customer issue.

Definitely too early to assign any blame.  To me, the early indications are that not a damned thing could have been done.  Sure seems like, by the time the crew above-deck realized there was a fire, it was already way too late.

I suspect that what we're going to learn from this is that having a below-deck passenger cabin with only a single point of exit, particularly one that goes through the most fire-prone area of the ship (the galley), is a bad idea.  But space is at a premium on a boat....I suspect that most are designed that way.  When I've been on an offshore party boat, that's how the bunks below deck worked -- single exit, into the main space where the galley was (also bunks in there, above deck).

Maybe better smoke alarms?  Sprinkler system?  Those things may need to happen.  We'll find out.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11227

Posted
Posted

The Grape Escape captain also said both of the exits were blocked, and that he could see fire through the bunk room portholes.

It just sounds to me like the crew were isolated from the bunk room by the fire and went higher and higher trying to escape the flames after attempting to reach the bunk room. Then it just got too hot and they had to bail from up top. 

Awful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11227

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Definitely too early to assign any blame.  To me, the early indications are that not a damned thing could have been done.  Sure seems like, by the time the crew above-deck realized there was a fire, it was already way too late.

I suspect that what we're going to learn from this is that having a below-deck passenger cabin with only a single point of exit, particularly one that goes through the most fire-prone area of the ship (the galley), is a bad idea.  But space is at a premium on a boat....I suspect that most are designed that way.  When I've been on an offshore party boat, that's how the bunks below deck worked -- single exit, into the main space where the galley was (also bunks in there, above deck).

Maybe better smoke alarms?  Sprinkler system?  Those things may need to happen.  We'll find out.

Yep.  Just fyi, there were two exits, but both did exit into the galley and dining area.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11227

Posted
Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

It'll be interesting to see if they can determine where the fire started in relation to those sprinklers. 

If there's enough of the boat left, it shouldn't be too hard to determine the point of origin and progression of the fire ...

Edited by wood
Link to comment
Share on other sites
crash_davis

crash_davis 23114

Posted
Posted
Just now, Murfdogg21 said:

So we’re going with the most peaceful form of death, that they maintained unconsciousness due to smoke fumes and likely died prior to “drowning” and did not really experience any of the terror?

Prob not the case. All it takes is one person to wake up during the nightmare to wake up everyone else.  Not going down that rabbit hole to imagine the chaos and horror for the victims.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11227

Posted
Posted

Judging from the comments of the captain of the Grape Escape and from the comments re: the 25 bodies that have been recovered so far (stressing that the number may change as the ME examines the bodies), it seems like some of the passengers did burn. 

I can only hope they passed in their sleep...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CoTex

CoTex 1160

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Casual Encounter said:

There will be a fixed extinguishing system in the engine room and one above certain galley cooking systems, but that’s it for a boat this size.

This is correct.  It won't be a sprinkler system because the two most common types of fire will be fuel or electrical and water doesn't fix that.

My guess is the engine room had some C02 system to put out a fire but it only works if its both maintained, and the door is closed so the c02 can do its work.

Galley fire at 3am when everyone's asleep?  Unless the cook was slow roasting a roux or something, seems unlikely.  Galley fires happen when people are in the galley cooking.

My guess is that this is either an electrical fire or some dumbassery like someone left a bright light close to and shining on something flammable.  Fuel fire would require first a fuel leak, which would smell like diesel and make everyone sick, before it ignited.  Fire spread quickly on main deck and by the time people on lower deck realized there was a fire, their only exit looked like hell's entrance.

A decent fire detection system prevents things like this but either they didn't have one, didn't maintain it, or something.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
C-Man

C-Man 27235

Posted
Posted

Doesn't seem like it's been discussed on this thread but there was chatter about the passengers being "locked" in to the sleeping quarters. But the 911 transmission is pretty garbled and could very easily have been "blocked" as in the fire blocking any way in or out of the sleeping quarters. At any rate, what a horrible deal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
UTCzech III

UTCzech III 2907

Posted
Posted

Damn, just saw on facebook that a couple, who until recently lived here in Taylor, was on that boat.  He was a world-class photographer and she was an Antarctic scientist.  Didn't know them personally but he did a lot of photography for the local animal shelter to help get animals adopted.  Looks like they were a great couple, sure we will hear many more heartbreaking stories like this.  

His blog

Her blog

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11227

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, C-Man said:

Doesn't seem like it's been discussed on this thread but there was chatter about the passengers being "locked" in to the sleeping quarters. But the 911 transmission is pretty garbled and could very easily have been "blocked" as in the fire blocking any way in or out of the sleeping quarters. At any rate, what a horrible deal.

That rumor started with the Coast Guard radio operator asking if the passengers were locked in (or maybe you're right and he says "blocked inside"). The captain never says the people below deck were "locked in". The captain says “There’s 33 people on board the vessel on fire. They can’t get off.” It's the Coast Guard radio operator who uses those words while trying to get more info ... "Are they locked (blocked?) inside the boat?" and asks if they had firefighting gear. The captain's reply was unclear. Later the captain says "there’s no escape hatch for any of the people on board.” 

I don't blame the operator, either. The operator is in the dark and trying to paint a mental image of what's happening on the other end of the conversation. 911 operators often struggle themselves to find the right words, especially if there's trouble communicating with the caller, as there was in this call. A call like this one would be very stressful for the operator as well, and finding the right words might not always happen. I doubt they literally meant "locked in". Of course I have no way of knowing that for sure, but in the heat of the moment, "locked in" could just be the Coast Guard radio operator's way of saying "trapped".

Edited by wood
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21864

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, CoTex said:

This is correct.  It won't be a sprinkler system because the two most common types of fire will be fuel or electrical and water doesn't fix that.

My guess is the engine room had some C02 system to put out a fire but it only works if its both maintained, and the door is closed so the c02 can do its work.

Galley fire at 3am when everyone's asleep?  Unless the cook was slow roasting a roux or something, seems unlikely.  Galley fires happen when people are in the galley cooking.

My guess is that this is either an electrical fire or some dumbassery like someone left a bright light close to and shining on something flammable.  Fuel fire would require first a fuel leak, which would smell like diesel and make everyone sick, before it ignited.  Fire spread quickly on main deck and by the time people on lower deck realized there was a fire, their only exit looked like hell's entrance.

A decent fire detection system prevents things like this but either they didn't have one, didn't maintain it, or something.

 

 

 

There were apparently a couple of standard extinguishers in the bunk area, but my guess is the flames weren't down there, at least not initially.  It was all happening above them, making escape impossible.  Electrical system knocked out.  Pitch black.  Smoke everywhere.  Fucking terrifying to think about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11227

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

There's not.  And this is now on the bottom.

spacer.png

That's actually probably a good chunk of boat remains for an investigation. It's very likely gonna be recovered & examined thoroughly imho. It's only in 64 feet of water, less than 100' from the island. Re: having enough left to determine the fire origin, I think you might be surprised what good fire investigators can do. There are also pictures & video, and the crew &witnesses also might have some info on that as well. It's actually normally pretty easy to determine the general area of the fire origin. The harder part is usually pinpointing the exact source/cause.

Edited by wood
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Coelenterate Fuccboi

Coelenterate Fuccboi 13119

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, smwhorn said:

Not necessarily, particularly if there are flammable materials and/or combustibles in the most fire damaged area.

Which is why I said typically.

Edit: In this case, the entire upper structure collapsed in and added fuel to the fire. I do believe there’d be more damage to the aft hull if it had started in the engine room.

Edited by Casual Encounter
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54292

Posted
  • Author
Posted
8 hours ago, wood said:

Judging from the comments of the captain of the Grape Escape and from the comments re: the 25 bodies that have been recovered so far (stressing that the number may change as the ME examines the bodies), it seems like some of the passengers did burn. 

I can only hope they passed in their sleep...

I tend think that being on fire would wake most people up.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11227

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

I tend think that being on fire would wake most people up.  

People who die in fires are usually dead from smoke inhalation before the fire actually gets to them, esp when they were asleep to begin with.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31509

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, wood said:

People who die in fires are usually dead from smoke inhalation before the fire actually gets to them, esp when they were asleep to begin with.

 

12 hours ago, Casual Encounter said:

So, technically they didn’t die in the fire.

 

12 hours ago, wood said:

Oy. Really?

OK ... die at a fire, or because of a fire, etc. 

This is important because it is important to know exactly what is meant by EABOD and DIAF.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Coelenterate Fuccboi

Coelenterate Fuccboi 13119

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

No, but where there's smoke there's fire.  They died as a result of smoke created by a fire. They were in the boat with the fire, and smoke.  They were in a fire.  Pretty basic Venn diagram stuff.

Username checks out. We found one of the surviving crew members.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...