Picture of STAR Princess fire damaga

[Larry502]

You would not have sprinklers on balconies due to the posbility of frezzing. Some of the princess ships do go to cold weather area were a sprinkler pipe could frezze and then break. They do make dry systems but cruise ships do not have that type of system.

[10splyr]

NO ONE in the general public knows the cause of the fire yet, exactly what damage has been sustained in the affected areas and to what extent -- I hope you guys can discuss amongst yourselves in a civil manner ?;) Okay? The news shows like Inside Edition will be all over anyone they can find who was on the ship and will probably lead to even more theories etc. Out of respect for those who were injured and the gentleman who lost his life and their families, let's play nice here, please???? if for no other reason....

 

I think Caroline is absolutely spot-on. Let's let the authorities figure out what happened and how it can be prevented in the future. And for those of you who have no respect for or confidence??? in "the authorities", then get yourselves to the ship and tell us what happened, Our thoughts should be with the passengers who were actually affected by this tragedy.

 

I will still cruise as it is the most relaxing, non-stress form of vacation (after we fly from here to there to get started!), and I think it is an extremely safe form of travel. If only I could figure out how to sail from Phoenix to our port of embarkation;)

[sailsup]

Let me just say my wife and I love to cruise. When a fire breaks out on a ship the black smoke comes from all the plastic and paint that is used, I would love to see wood used more. Inside the cabins it is all plastic or some type of plastic. The paint on the outside is very thick, and when that stuff burns it is very black and sooty. You have to remember this ship was moving and it takes at least 2 miles for it to stop. Has anyone blown on a campfire to get it going? Well this is what fed the fire on the outside of the ship and also caused it to burn so hot, it had everything it needed to cause it's own firestorm. I havn't seen any mention of damage on the inside of the cabins. I would guess most if not all the sliding doors did there protection by keeping the fire out of the ship.

[Islandbuoy]

look at some of the other posts--there's plenty of damage inside--like a foot of black water--- all my stuff burned up, etc!!!!!!!!!

[bluefintuna]

Everyone is speculating as to the cause of this fire and why the cabin sprinklers did not work. If, indeed this did start on a balcony, what material was the furniture made of? Many are saying it was a cigarette that started it, but that is a "rush to judgment" because no authority in charge ever said that. Re speculation: we have cruised 18 times and were talking theories. Cabins on cruise ships are "slotted" so to speak and slid in place individually. Above the ceilings is the utility space through which all electrical lines, ventilation ducts and water pipes to feed the bathroom and the sprinkler system. For people to speculate that the fire was caused by a cigarette, is just that, speculation. There are countless ways a fire can start; a cigarette, sure, or a candle, or an iron, or an electrical shortage in the ceiling area.

[NormanW]

Nevermind.

 

Cheers,

 

Norman

[cusyl]

Does anyone know where any pictures have been posted yet of the inside of the cabins and damage? I read there was a video on ABC from a doctor onboard, but I missed it.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I don't have any pictures though we still had my daughter's camera because a senior officer would not allow us to photograph our stateroom. We were told no pictures. She has one of a similar cabin that wasn't as badly burned but it's hard to see as the light is streaming in as there wasn't a door to block the sunlight. I will try and see if she can post that.

[Cshell5]

Does anyone know where any pictures have been posted yet of the inside of the cabins and damage? I read there was a video on ABC from a doctor onboard, but I missed it.

 

Video is here Click on Red word Video and scroll down to find story.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/?CMP=google_bcast&partner=google&gclid=CILWh7Wk-4MCFQ46UAod1WjGdQ

[judie57]

I understand that a cruise fire is functionaly different then a building fire, however- those of us who cruise know that. We take care, we muster and we are careful with things like irons and smoking ( those who smoke). One cruise critic member is correct, I'm not changing my plans!

My prayers to all the families affected.. and to all of us who aren't ...smooth sailing.

[Rastacop]

Wow!

We sailed on the Star last April and its very sad to see the all the damage to the ship.

[YOCAP]

Based on readings on this Board and others.....looking at as many photos and video that I could find, I would say that the Cabin Sprinklers did exactly what they were supposed to do.

 

By zooming in on some photo's you can see remains of beds, tv's, cabinets etc,...had the sprinklers not contained the fire you would not see any of that....

 

No accounts tell of any fire getting to the corridors outside the individual cabins. The fire probably entered the cabins when windows were broken by radiated heat from the fires on the balconies.

 

Most balconies are metel, wood and glass (maybe plexi). Wood railings usually have several coats of some type of polyurethane, this alone would create a good size flame. Most have plastic deck chairs, another good fuel for fire.

 

Had the sprinklers not worked, fire and heat would have melted the cabin doors leading to the corridors, again no such writings or news reports indicate fire in the corridors. Therefor in my opinion the sprinklers contained the fire to the cabins preventing an even bigger tragedy.

 

My observations are based on 25 yrs as a FF.

[dosi]

NTSB is going down and IMHO Princess is in deep dodo. No matter what started the fire in ONE cabin for it to spread like that IMHO says that the ship was not up to SOLAS standards. :(

 

 

You are assuming the fire spread within the interior of the ship. Our local paper ran a picture of the interior of one of the damaged cabins as a local singing group was on the ship. While everything is covered in black soot and the drapes are burned there are papers on the desk that are still intact. There are also aerosol cans on the desk (hairspray I think) that seem to be intact. If the heat were extreme on the interior of the cabin I believe the cans would have exploded. It doesn't appear that the flames really did a lot of interior damage, at least not in this cabin. I don't know what cabin number these folks were in. And the online website for the local paper http://www.mtdemocrat.com only put in the picture of the couple and not the other photos that ran with with article.

 

My point is, that perhaps the majority of actual flame damage was on the outside of the ship and the structural damage to the interior is comprised of mainly water and smoke damage.

[YOCAP]

Not assuming fire spread through interior, not at all,,,,fire came through from all the balconies.....must check out photo link you submitted, but from what you said I still say the sprinklers did the job.....thanks for the photo link will check it out...

[dosi]

YOCAP As I stated in my post, the picture is NOT online, only in the paper. And what I am saying is, at least in the picture that I saw, not a lot of actual fire came into the cabin. Probably not enough to set off the sprinklers. Those sprinklers have a pretty high temperature tolerence. If they didn't then they would be going off in hotels all the time from irons and burnt popcorn etc. We have been in a hotel twice where the fire alarms went off in the middle of the night, once due to burnt toast and once due to burnt popcorn. The fire doors all activated, but the sprinklers did not....not even in the smoke filled burnt food room. I guess what I am trying to say is that if the fire first spread quickly accross the exterior of the ship, for whatever reason, by the time the doors started to shatter, there would be a flash of fire and heat and THEN the sprinklers would go, but the cabin would already be in the process burning.

[r1john]

I don't know anything about SOLAS standards. However, I hope someone explains why properly operating sprinklers wouldn't confine a fire to the cabin where it started.

 

 

take it from me it didnt start in a cabin

[Host CJSKIDS]

take it from me it didnt start in a cabin

 

 

Okay, since you've now posted stuff on this and another thread, would you like to tell us what you do know? You said you were on the ship and witnessed the fire, you're a new poster here and have said it started by a candle and that it didn't start in a cabin. Unless you know who started the fire, were in the cabin directly next to, above, or below the cabin where it started, or work for the cruise line, it's hard for you to say you know exactly what happened.

[MSN-Travelers]

For what it's worth, Princess has posted a news release on its web site.

 

http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na782

 

In part ...

"We would like to provide a preliminary update on the Star Princess situation.

Although no definitive cause of the fire has yet been determined, we can confirm that the fire did start on one of the ship's balconies, and spread to other balconies. ..."

[Hello, Newman]

"We would like to provide a preliminary update on the Star Princess situation.

Although no definitive cause of the fire has yet been determined, we can confirm that the fire did start on one of the ship's balconies, and spread to other balconies. ..."

 

Looks like r1john has the goods to back up his statement.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Looks like r1john has the goods to back up his statement.

 

He also made a statement about it being an American leaving a candle or something like that. I really meant more the candle than not starting in a cabin as I already knew that.

[TerriDHair]

We were on the Star in 2003 and the Sapphire in 2004 - beautiful ships!

 

My thoughts - how could this get so out of control when there are sprinklers?

Reminds me of the photos of the Sapphire when it burned in the ship yard.

 

My compliments to the crew and the superb training - it paid off. Make me more confident that Princess is prepared for such an emergency, even when it occurs at 3AM.

 

Judy

 

Hi Judy,

 

I am hoping you are still monitoring this thread. I read another thread where you had posted your review of the Sapphire, cabin D329. My Mom just booked her 2nd ever cruise (#1 was many years ago) and she has that cabin reserved. She is wondering about which direction the beds face, as she is concerned about facing backwards.

 

Anyhow, any info you can provide would be very much appreciated. Feel free to e-mail me at my Terridhair name at AOL.