Cruise Ship Fire
A fire damaged a cruise ship yesterday (from the Washington Post).
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica -- A fire apparently started by a cigarette broke out aboard a giant cruise ship early Thursday as it sailed through the moonlit Caribbean, leaving one passenger dead, 11 people injured and at least 100 rooms scorched.The Star Princess, carrying 2,690 passengers and 1,123 crew members, bore evidence of the nighttime drama as it pulled into Montego Bay's port. About 85 exterior cabins were blackened from the fire, a stark contrast to the otherwise gleaming white exterior of the ship. Metal was twisted, evidence of the heat of the blaze.
I did some checking on cruise ship firefighting. The International Council of Cruise Lines has a brochure on cruise ship safety (pdf). Here are some highlights regarding the average cruise ship:
- Five firefighting teams on board
- Over 170 trained personnel to support the fire fighting teams
- Approximately twenty crewmembers with advanced firefighting training (The average town’s fire department usually has an average of six firefighters per station.)
- Over 6 miles of firefighting hose
- Over 16 miles of sprinkler piping
- Over 5,000 sprinkler heads onboard in every cabin and room
- Over 500 fire extinguishers
- Over 4,000 smoke detectors
- Local sounding alarms in all cabins
- Over 400 fire stations or hydrants
- Sufficient lifeboats and life rafts for everyone onboard
None of the info that I found said whether there are full-time firefighters on these ships. I'm guessing that the firefighters have other duties on the cruise ship and that firefighting is just part of their job. Regardless, there are probably worse assignments than being a firefighter on a cruise ship.
Comments
I was on the Star Princess with my family of 4 children and 5 grandchildren and want to say that the crew and captain of the Princess fighting the fire did a FANTASTIC job of putting out the fire and keeping the passengers calm.
Marilyn Marlow
Posted by: Marilyn Marlow at March 29, 2006 07:55 AM
