Posted on 09/03/2019 6:56:09 AM PDT by libstripper
Agreed.
I’ve been on it too and in an emergency, it would be tough to get everyone out in time.
A very good boat and organization!
Tragic. Prayers for the families, and may the pain and anguish of the deceased been short.
Apparently, not a single person made up the stairs or out the hatch.
It is a bit tight down below as its really only for sleeping and resting between dives.
...
Not much air for that many people. I don’t think it would take much smoke to render everyone unconscious.
Lithium battery charging and overcharging. People shoot pictures nowadays instead of fish. I’ve used Conception before. It is the jewel of the California dive boat fleet. A multiple lithium battery explosion and fire directly above the berthing compartment where 34 people were asleep is something we haven’t seen before. This is speculation. Also, on multi day trips, many times emergency hatches get blocked with gear bags, clothing bags, dive tanks, scooters, cameras etc etc
Toward the stern, an escape hatch was situated above one of the bunks and led to the salon deck, which included the galley. "It's on a ceiling of the bunk room or the floor of the galley," said Bruce Rausch, 69, a veteran divemaster in Orange County and a retired San Onofre nuclear engineer who had been on more than a dozen dive trips aboard the Conception. "All you have to do is get up to a bunk and keep going up and you use the bunk as ladders."
Stairs on one end, escape hatch on the other.
There is no propane or any other explosive gas / chemical / metal stored on the boat - except lithium batteries for dive and video lights - they would be on the charge overnight getting ready for the next days diving
Bingo.
I'm waiting for gobsonguy to bash FreeRepublic.com because it too, is "In CA of course."
I’m sure it was inspected.
Agreed.
I have over 800 dives off the Vision, Conception and Truth. spanning the last 20 years. Each bunk area has two points of egress. One down a stairway and a ladder at the far end of the bunk room, which exists topside. I can only imagine this fire started in the galley, which is above the bunk rooms. Glen and the captain of the Conception, Jerry Boylan are first rate people and imagine their sense of grief and ultimate responsibility for this tragic incident....
I hope to god the emergency hatches weren’t blocked with passenger property - coolers, dive bags, camera equipment etc
“My money is on Propane from the Galley.”
See #7 and look at where the ladders lead up to.
It must have been a horrific conflagration, terrible.
Divers don’t use 100% O2 in their tanks. At most the tanks would be filled with 32% O2 compared with the 21% O2 that is normal compressed air.
It is very difficult to make a scuba tank explode. Normally, if the tank is heated and the pressure inside rises, as in a fire or even in the trunk of a car on a hot day, a burst disc in the tank valve will rupture and release all the air in the tank very rapidly. An exploding tank usually occurs when the tank has physical damage or is filled incorrectly.
And I’m a 30 year scuba instructor who has inspected, serviced, and filled thousands of tanks. The diver’s tanks in this tragic accident are only an incidental consideration.
As I posted on another string yesterday:
“When I was stationed in Santa Barbara at the Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment in the late ‘80’s to early ‘90’s I conducted annual inspections on the Conception. There is an emergency exit to the bow from below decks. The passenger berthing/bunks are rather cramped. The emergency exit is one person at a time on a vertical ladder if my memory serves correctly. Plenty of dive paraphernalia to get in the way of panicked half asleep folks. I will not speculate on the cause of the fire. The Coasties will be conducting a full investigation on the cause. If the vessel sank that will make it more difficult. I am endeavoring to remember her construction, but I believe she is/was FRP.”
The hull construction is/was actually FRP over plywood. 46 CFR Subchapter “T” does not require a sprinkler system on vessels carrying less than 49 passenger. M/V Conception was certificated for 46 passengers.
I cannot recall for certainty about the galley appliances, but I suspect since the vessel had a stand alone generator for the dive air compressors, that the galley was electric.
I will not speculate on the cause of the fire.
These vessels are called “Party Boats” for a reason. Dive all day and party at night. Mix that with gear all over the berthing area, panic, and it is not a good mix.
It breaks my heart! May they rest in peace in the arms of the Divine.
Gunner
“Was there ever a Coast Guard inspection of that boat?”
Ask someone that has read the article.
Dive tanks are air...not oxygen.
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