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Thread: Dozens Missing in California Boat Fire

  1. #1
    Smoke Bomb / Ninja Vanish Chance's Avatar
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    Nov 2011

    Dozens Missing in California Boat Fire

    From BBC News:

    Four bodies have been recovered and four more spotted on the ocean floor after a boat was destroyed by fire off the coast of California, US authorities said.

    Five crew of the commercial diving boat Conception escaped the blaze.

    The fire started in the early hours of Monday. The boat was anchored just metres off Santa Cruz Island, about 90 miles (145km) west of Los Angeles.

    The vessel is now submerged as a search and rescue operation continues.

    At a press conference, Sheriff Bill Brown said 39 people were on board the vessel when fire broke out.

    ....

    [Coast Guard] Capt Rochester said the boat was "fully in compliance" with safety regulations, and had no prior violations.

    She said the search efforts would continue into Tuesday morning, but that "we should all be prepared [for] the worst outcome".
    "Sapiens dicit: 'Ignoscere divinum est, sed noli pretium plenum pro pizza sero allata solvere.'" - Michelangelo

  2. #2
    Kinda weird when the whole crew escapes but every passenger dies.

  3. #3
    As I understand the boat's layout, all of the crew accommodations were above the deck, and all of the passengers' accommodations were in bunks below the deck in the forward portion of the hull.

  4. #4
    Those of us who were in the Navy or Coast Guard were required to be able to egress both our workspace and berthing while blindfolded. On my ship we required people to know two different routes from their berthing. This is not a trivial matter. I went through a period where I would go TDY to different cutters and always made a point of how to make a mental map of how to get out.

    I doubt the folks below decks on the dive boat did that, and frankly I would have been surprised if any of them had managed to escape to a weather deck in the dark, while the passage ways were full of smoke.

    I'm kind of a wet blanket when it comes to certain things that other people regard as "fun." One of them is that I am very choosy about embarking on any vessel.
    I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.

  5. #5
    Chasing the Horizon RJ's Avatar
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    Jan 2014
    Something not right here.

    I’ve been on multiple Liveaboards. I’m not sure how you get 29 people ‘trapped’ overnight in a dive boat with doors ‘locked’?

    What a horrible tragedy. We were just driving by on the 101 a few days ago and could see Santa Cruz Island near Santa Barbara.

  6. #6
    Member Wheeler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RJ View Post
    Something not right here.

    I’ve been on multiple Liveaboards. I’m not sure how you get 29 people ‘trapped’ overnight in a dive boat with doors ‘locked’?

    What a horrible tragedy. We were just driving by on the 101 a few days ago and could see Santa Cruz Island near Santa Barbara.
    What source is claiming the doors were locked? How could anyone determine that if the boat is on the sea floor and no entry has been made yet?
    Men freely believe that which they desire.
    Julius Caesar

  7. #7
    Chasing the Horizon RJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wheeler View Post
    What source is claiming the doors were locked? How could anyone determine that if the boat is on the sea floor and no entry has been made yet?
    The term ‘locked’ was used by the emergency dispatcher tape I heard this morning played on the news.


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  8. #8
    Member Wheeler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RJ View Post
    The term ‘locked’ was used by the emergency dispatcher tape I heard this morning played on the news.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Might should have led with that bit of info.

    I still don't see how anyone could have made that determination but I'm not privy to the emergency dispatcher tapes either.
    Men freely believe that which they desire.
    Julius Caesar

  9. #9
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    I was in a CH46 that had an engine catch on fire on takeoff. Simple things like stand up, turn 90 degrees, walk down the ramp to salvation, aren’t so simple when you can’t see and you’re suffocating in the black smoke. And suffocating doesn’t really do it justice. The 3 or 4 seconds I was in there was an eternity. I could have just as easily clawed my way in as out.

    I couldn’t imagine those folks having more than 10 seconds to get out. Let’s face it if you were holding your breath because you knew a fire was coming, you wouldn’t have been there.
    Whether you think you can or you can't, you're probably right.

  10. #10
    Smoke Bomb / Ninja Vanish Chance's Avatar
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    Nov 2011
    From BBC News:

    Twenty-five bodies have been found after a boat was destroyed by fire off the coast of California, officials say.

    Citing the US Coast Guard, media reports said nine people were missing, while five crew members had survived.

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    "Sapiens dicit: 'Ignoscere divinum est, sed noli pretium plenum pro pizza sero allata solvere.'" - Michelangelo

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