Coast Guard after fire: Limit phone charging
The Coast Guard has issued a safety bulletin following the California boat fire that killed 34 people, recommending commercial boat operators limit unsupervised charging of cellphones and other electronic devices.
A brief, preliminary report on the Labor Day fire that destroyed the dive ship Conception near Santa Cruz Island was issued Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board, but it did not address the cause of the fire. It did note three crew members said they knew of no mechanical or electrical issues with the boat.
The report said all six crew members were asleep when the fire broke out. Boats like the Conception, which caught fire around 3 a.m., are required to have a crew member keep watch at night.
The Coast Guard said it has convened a Marine Board of Investigation to determine the cause of the blaze. The bulletin noted it does not have to await the board’s findings before taking “immediate and positive” action.
The recommendations included ensuring that all required firefighting and safety equipment is on the boat and operational, that emergency escapes are clearly recognizable and functional, and that crew members know their roles.
Boat operators also should “reduce potential fire hazards and consider limiting the unsupervised charging of lithium-ion batteries and extensive use of power strips and extension cords,” the bulletin said.
Incidents of rechargeable battery fires, however, are extremely rare.
“The intensity of the fire surprised people,” Peter Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, told USA TODAY. “If it was being fed by lithium batteries, that might explain it.”
More than 30 divers spending a long weekend packed on a boat could have a lot of phones, cameras and laptops to charge, he said.
“I’ve heard that a lot of attention is going there,” Goelz told USA TODAY. “Did they have a charging station of epic proportions? Were electronics stacked up? We don’t know yet.”
Passenger access to escape hatches is also being reviewed.
A total of 39 people were aboard the boat for a holiday weekend expedition when the fire started at about 3 a.m. local time. Five crew members who were on the deck fled and were rescued. The victims apparently died from of smoke inhalation, authorities have said.