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[lbgraves]

lbgraves (and any others interested!) ~ There is an excellent and informative thread on the cruisecritic board with tons of very helpful information and idea exchanges ... no debate topics to sidetrack. If you are interested in lots of possible answers without the personal opinions and debates, the thread can be found on the Princess Cruise section of cruisecritic.

Thank you. I finally found the right thread and it does give alot of information. The pictures from the ship's webcam are scarey too. There were 10 minutes with the thick black smoke in the picture.

 

[SeaSpray]

I am actually the poster who has been quoted from cruise critic as I'm cjskids over on that board. I would post pictures but our camera was burned up and even though we still had our daughters they would not allow us to take a picture of our remains of our cabin when they let us return. I'm now home suffering from infections caused by smoke inhalation and intersting enough still haven't heard from Princess cruises to see if we got home safely and how our health is.

I can't imagine how scary this must have been for you I'm glad that you're home safe, but I'm sorry you're suffering from infections. I hope this is something that can be cleared up with no lasting problems I don't think it's right that the cruise line hasn't contacted you to see one way or the other, how you're doing. You'd think they'd at least want to get your firsthand report on file.

Thank you for sharing your firsthand experiences with the rest of us who weren't there.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

well my first thougt is that i don't thiink they would have wet paint without some type of supervision. Beyone that i would also think because of the nature of the cruise and people most of them are traveling with children they would not put children in harms way, but then i remember my teaching years, were i taught ed/bd and i am not sterotyping but it could have been a teen, if a teen did start the fire then tehe whole hoping for the children aspect goes right out the window. I just hope nothng like this ever happens again. It is such a terrible thing.

As someone else already pointed out, DCL is CONSTANTLY painting the ship. I don't think I've ever been on a Disney Cruise where I didn't see crew members with a paint brush and wet paint signs somewhere.

As for other posters who questioned paint being dry at 3 a.m., you have to remember that were not talking about glidden paint picked up at Lowe's to paint your living room. Now while I don't know any technical details about the paints these ships use, do realize that even paint in your house takes hours to completely dry (and depending upon the name brand, you can smell it for a few days). Then you have to remember you're in a marine environment (i.e. high humidity therefore longer drying times). Given that we're talking about special comercial grade paint here, cure times are likely much longer that what the typical consumer is used to. So unless someone with specific knowledge about these paints comes forward to discuss the issue, you can't make any assumptions about what the paint was like at 3:00am.

 

[captaincrash]

Here is the quote that makes reference to a posssible accelerant.... as you can imagine - how on Earth could so much of the ship be destroyed by aq simple fire on a balcony from a pitched ciggy if not for some mischief with an arsonists' help to spread it?

NOW please bear in mind that this is not a qualified opinion. We have NO IDEA who posted this and what their credentials are. AND it is heresay as to how it looked to them. OF COURSE.... I am not even claiming to have been there so I am a true voice from the peanut gallery.

Take it with a grain of salt and think about the photos we've seen in the media... pictures don't lie... it looks pretty big for a single accidental ciggy, eh? I have trouble imagining how it could find sufficient fuel to sread fast enough to develope that much intensity and damage.


Quote:
Originally Posted by pppiglet
So maybe it wasn't an accident.....read this...scary....


From someone on the ship posting to Cruise Critic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I copied this from the Princess site:

I have to tell you all that after reading some of the posts on my thread I am appalled at some of your posts.

Let me set the record straight, it was not a cigarette that probably caused the fire. I spoke to the person who pulled the actual fire alarm and she's been interviewed by police and officials. It looks like someone did this on purpose. The initial fire spread way to rapidly and there was some kind of accelerant on the balcony. They believe in the possiblity that either some through a moltov cocktail or poured liquor over onto the balcony and then threw a cigarette. The fire went from being a small thing to an inferno in a matter of seconds. Staff told me that more went on than we're being told and that it was a serious major fire that spread very quickly. Our sprinklers didn't go off properly and some of the fire doors didn't shut like they were supposed to.

.....


I am actually the poster who has been quoted from cruise critic as I'm cjskids over on that board. I would post pictures but our camera was burned up and even though we still had our daughters they would not allow us to take a picture of our remains of our cabin when they let us return. I'm now home suffering from infections caused by smoke inhalation and intersting enough still haven't heard from Princess cruises to see if we got home safely and how our health is.

CJ SMITH.....

I am sincerely saddened at your ordeal... and hope your recovery is swift and complete. I quoted the other article with the assertion the accerant might have been paint because it was the only other reference to their having been any accelerant. I also cited the questionable speed of fire advancement... IE it looks pretty big to be an accident... and one caused by ... PAINT? You've got to be.... K-I-D-D-I-N-G. Now a molotov cocktail I might believe... and deliberate arson ... yes. If so, this is a terrible crime and I hope they can narrow it down. Somewhere they have video of the upper decks that might trace the movements of a suspicious party... or they could investigate those in cabins near the flash point. Someone (or something) is at fault here and we are all fortunate it was not more tragic.

Have you contacted Princess yet? I suspect they are in huge disarray over this as there is no precedent - as hurricanes provide for annual practice at crisis management. You would figure they should eventually reach out to you with something other than a form letter, if that at all. I suspect their silence might hope you'd go away quietly... and if so that would indeed be very disquieting.

Please accept my apolagies for anything I posted which might be viewed as less than diplomatic - no ill will was intended for any passengers on your sailing ... except those suspicious ones.

Sincerely,
Tom

 

[dwkwootton]

cjsmith and I are friends a long time now. I'm still shaken to find out that this sailing was the Princess Cruise that she was on and that she is the poster quoted by pppiglet. I know that no one has said the contrary, but an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure .... she is a fair and decent person and I believe that her account is and will continue to be accurate. Praying for a full and speedy recovery for you, my friend!

 

[clovely]

I quoted the other article with the assertion the accerant might have been paint because it was the only other reference to their having been any accelerant. I also cited the questionable speed of fire advancement... IE it looks pretty big to be an accident... and one caused by ... PAINT? You've got to be.... K-I-D-D-I-N-G. Now a molotov cocktail I might believe... and deliberate arson ... yes. If so, this is a terrible crime and I hope they can narrow it down. Somewhere they have video of the upper decks that might trace the movements of a suspicious party... or they could investigate those in cabins near the flash point. Someone (or something) is at fault here and we are all fortunate it was not more tragic.

It seems perfectly reasonable to me, as someone else explained, that an industrial paint or chemical (varnish or paint thinner) could have acted as an accellerant. And given that it happened at 3am, it could have spread really quite considerably before it was noticed. Tragic all the way around. I really would like to think this was not deliberate - almost anything's possible, I guess.

 

[captaincrash]

It seems perfectly reasonable to me, as someone else explained, that an industrial paint or chemical (varnish or paint thinner) could have acted as an accellerant. And given that it happened at 3am, it could have spread really quite considerably before it was noticed. Tragic all the way around. I really would like to think this was not deliberate - almost anything's possible, I guess.

I have to ask...

.... are you saying that DRY paint or VARNISH can burn like that? It can catch fire and be self sustaining until it gets aluminum to melt? Now... wet varnish I thought could burn because it was the vapor that seemed flammable. OR freshly thrown paint thinner might be flammable. BUT dry paint or varnish?

I'm really an armchair bloke from the peanut gallery... and I wanna believe that there are a few dozen other DIS folks musing the same question that I have posed. BECAUSE if this is as flammable as it looks then everything with a nice color finish is waiting to go up like a ROMAN CANDLE. I'm no fireman and certain no pyromaniac.

Does anyone have a technical knowledge of this sufficient to lend some factual insight?

​

 

[lbgraves]

The thread that was referenced on cruise critic earlier has a technical discussion going on with input from firefighters, engineers, and someone who works in an aluminum manufacturing plant. Before reading that I had no idea that aluminim was so easily burned. It's rather scarey.

 

[captaincrash]

Can you post a link to the cruise critic link you're looking at ... or at least a thread title?

In advance, thank You!

 

[lbgraves]

I think that it was on the Princess board and was called Technical discussion of Star fire. I'll try to find it again.

 

[ivanova]

The accelerant could have also been alcohol that was accientally spilled ... had a friend accidentally spill a bottle of wine on a balcony, so if alcohol can give a fire a good headstart, then it could've been an accidental spill????????

 

[captaincrash]

A spilled beverage ... like brandy or hard spirits of some sort followed by a lit cigarette? What sort of convergence of dumb luck would bring that about? Oh well... I guess less probably things have come to pass... dogs sleeping with cats; flying cows and cloned sheep eh? SO.... I'm just waiting for someone to ask about the flying cow.

 

[dwkwootton]

The accelerant could have also been alcohol that was accientally spilled ... had a friend accidentally spill a bottle of wine on a balcony, so if alcohol can give a fire a good headstart, then it could've been an accidental spill????????

Highly unlikely and maybe impossible. Wine won't burn like that at all. A stronger alcohol will burn, but only when it is very hot prior to lighting so it may be an aggravation to an existing fire but would not be the fire starter (and that's provided its straight liquor and not a mudslide or a rum & coke etc). And no, a lit cigarette laying in a straight spilled drink, will not provide the right conditions to light the alcohol. The only way this could really happen is with a good amount of freshly spilled 151 and a cigarette tossed right into it. Not only is this highly unlikely, but the flare up would be immediate and therefore capture the attention of the person who did it.

 

[dwkwootton]

A spilled beverage ... like brandy or hard spirits of some sort followed by a lit cigarette? What sort of convergence of dumb luck would bring that about? Oh well... I guess less probably things have come to pass... dogs sleeping with cats; flying cows and cloned sheep eh? SO.... I'm just waiting for someone to ask about the flying cow.

Nope, a spilled brandy and a lit cigarette won't do it. My dog sleeps with my cats every night.

 

[captaincrash]

....My dog sleeps with my cats every night.

Who would have figured...?

SO... I'm still waiting for a flying cow remark...

 

[clovely]

I have to ask...

.... are you saying that DRY paint or VARNISH can burn like that? It can catch fire and be self sustaining until it gets aluminum to melt? Now... wet varnish I thought could burn because it was the vapor that seemed flammable. OR freshly thrown paint thinner might be flammable. BUT dry paint or varnish?

I was thinking more of something freshly painted or even a can left where it shouldn't have been left. Something like that. It's all just speculation; I'm sure they're investigating.

 

[captaincrash]

I've been working my way through reading the cruise critic threads on this.... and it is V-E-R-Y interesting... and at times a little silly too.

Now I am also beginning to think about my reactions posted here and I am feeling a little silly too. I thought it best that I confessed my realizations on weakness. Heck... I'm just another fellow in the peanut gallery?

At any rate, I would encourage folks to take a look at the Princess thread some time soon as these fire threads dominate the top of the forum - and they don't jostle too much so they will remain up there for a few days to come - I'm sure.

 

[momrek06]

I've been working my way through reading the cruise critic threads on this.... and it is V-E-R-Y interesting... and at times a little silly too.

Now I am also beginning to think about my reactions posted here and I am feeling a little silly too. I thought it best that I confessed my realizations on weakness. Heck... I'm just another fellow in the peanut gallery?

At any rate, I would encourage folks to take a look at the Princess thread some time soon as these fire threads dominate the top of the forum - and they don't jostle too much so they will remain up there for a few days to come - I'm sure.

Can you give us a "condensed" version as to what they are all saying over at CRUISE CRITIC. Have they (posters) come to any real conclusions... that you feel like telling us !

 

[captaincrash]

Can you give us a "condensed" version as to what they are all saying over at CRUISE CRITIC. Have they (posters) come to any real conclusions... that you feel like telling us !

They had a big fire....



OK... I'm sorry but there's a lot to read and I'm sort of alternating between reading it and lurking here and doing some other things - like shopping for MED cruises as an alternative to the DCL sailngs. I do hold out some hope our group will agree to go at slightly higher DCL prices but my gorup is already grumping about it.

SO... I'll post a bit of a summary later when I've read enough or reach a pont with a meaningful conclusion... that is - if some one else doesn;t beat me to it. Which woul dbe fine too in my "book".

 

[momrek06]

They had a big fire....



OK... I'm sorry but there's a lot to read and I'm sort of alternating between reading it and lurking here and doing some other things - like shopping for MED cruises as an alternative to the DCL sailngs. I do hold out some hope our group will agree to go at slightly higher DCL prices but my gorup is already grumping about it.

SO... I'll post a bit of a summary later when I've read enough or reach a pont with a meaningful conclusion... that is - if some one else doesn;t beat me to it. Which woul dbe fine too in my "book".

THANK YOU, CAPTAIN I will await your post!!