That is insane!
Posted on 09/03/2019 8:08:34 AM PDT by sheana
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A middle-of-the-night fire swept a boat carrying recreational scuba divers anchored near an island off the Southern California coast early Monday, leaving at least 25 dead and nine others missing.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr Matthew Kroll said Monday night that 25 people had died. Five of six crew members on the Conception escaped by jumping into an inflatable boat they steered to a nearby vessel.
Rescuers initially recovered four bodies about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles just off Santa Cruz Island, and 16 others were pulled from the water later in the day. The Coast Guard says five others have been found but not recovered due to unsafe conditions under the boat, which sank about 20 yards (18 meters) from shore.
Authorities will search for the nine people still unaccounted for through the night.
“We should all be prepared to move into the worst outcome,” Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester said at a news conference.
The four bodies recovered initially had injuries consistent with drowning, Kroll said.
(Excerpt) Read more at kget.com ...
The dispatcher also asked if there was an alternate escape route. The answer was no.
Somebody’s getting sued, and probably going to jail.
According to interviews on Fox last night, the fire started just as the crew was up preparing breakfast (@4:30 a.m.)and getting ready for the morning dives. Fire mostly likely *blocked* the hall and doorways (not locked as initially reported) leading to the cabins hindering escape for the passengers. Fire was incredibly intense and spread rapidly so the crew’s ability aid passengers below was impeded. They barely made it off the ship themselves.
Crew quarters is above the main deck. It appears the fire started either in the galley (lithium battery charging station) or in the berthing compartment itself. There are 120V outlets in the berthing compartment, so someone could have been charging batteries down there as well. Toxic smoke, hot as hell lithium battery fire . . . . if you see the video of LASFD putting water on the blaze, you can see the heart of the fire reacting unusually to the water from the hoses. Throw some water on a burning lithium battery and see what happens.
Cute, bro. Now go back and read my post in context.
Very likely.
There was a lot of fog, smoke and darkness at the time.
Those people are our friends and a lot of them brought their kids.
If you had read up about the Conception you would know that whole conversation is misperception. The Conception was an open boat. No doors to close and lock. Passengers were allowed to go where they wanted. The escape hatch above the bunk had no way to be locked. It was a simple hole leading to the deck, above a bunk, covered with a piece of plywood.
We have a boat in Ventura Harbor and a couple of commercial captains are my neighbors. They’ve all been aboard the Conception and told me this also.
I would reserve judgement like that until more facts come out.
One of the least commonly known problems with lithium batteries (LIPO) is that OEM batteries have a circuit board in every pack that monitors each cell voltage during charge or discharge to make sure the cells stay in their nominal voltage range.
If a cell becomes out of balance with other cells in the pack during charge, for example, the circuit will stop charging that cell.
The difference is between a $50 battery pack and a $30 pack? The $30 pack (cheap chicom knock-off) doesn't have the safety circuit.
When you read stories about people whose cell phones, computers, etc. catch fire, it's because these people replaced the OEM pack with a cheap chicom knock-off.
This incident certainly has all the earmarks of a LIPO fire.
Just awful. Awful. Fire at sea is a terrible thing on its own even for people who are trained for it.
A little more info from the couple that rescued the crew members.
Interesting point Thanks - I did not know that
A locked berth? One exit? WTF? Worried about sleepwalkers? The horror.
They were not locked in. The Conception had no doors to lock. Open boat. Their exit was blocked by fire.
I hate seeing crap like this spread.
20 yards from shore? That’s only 60 feet, that’s in the breakers...there’s no way they were just 20 yards from shore. Why jump into a dinghy, that’s an extremely short swim, half a minute or less.
That is insane!
Yesterday's 911 audio indicated the passengers were locked below with no escape hatch. The dispatcher was asking a crewmember if they could get back onboard and unlock the hatch to let the passengers out.
The dispatcher also asked if there was an alternate escape route. The answer was no.
21 posted on 9/3/2019, 11:43:24 AM by pfflier [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies | Report Abuse]
Recorded 911 calls are pesky things - confusing us with facts.
Pretty awful. Condolences to their loved ones. Anyone heard what caused the fire?
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