Cruise ship fire survivors count themselves lucky 'How could only one person die in something so bad?' Friday, March 24, 2006; Posted: 10:38 a.m. EST (15:38 GMT) Fire damage is seen on the Star Princess as the ship pulled into Jamaica on Thursday. Manage Alerts | What Is This? MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP) -- Princess Cruises was flying more than 2,600 passengers home with full refunds on Friday and Saturday after a fire -- possibly caused by a neglected cigarette -- killed a Georgia man, injured 11 other passengers and charred 150 rooms aboard the Star Princess. "We believe the best course of action is to terminate the current cruise in Montego Bay," Princess Cruises said in a statement late Thursday. "All passengers currently onboard will be flown home over the next two days, and will receive a full refund of their cruise and air fare." The rising sun on Friday showed a big charred spot on the Star Princess, evidence of the fire that broke out in the pre-dawn darkness Thursday. A large ship, looking like a fuel barge, was moored alongside the Star Princess at the Montego bay docks. (See how the fire blackened 150 cabins on the cruise ship -- :42) About 1,600 people were expected to fly out on Friday and the rest on Saturday, said Paul Pennicook, Jamaica's director of tourism. Four passengers were being treated Friday at Cornwall Regional Hospital, on a hill overlooking the cruise ship in the harbor, Pennicook said. "We consider ourselves very lucky," Klemens Fass, of Toronto, Canada, told The Associated Press after he and his wife were evacuated Thursday with other some passengers. "When we got out of our stateroom ... there was someone lying in the hallway passed out. He was being attended to, but it was very, very scary." A smoldering cigarette is suspected as the cause of the blaze, said Horace Peterkin, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, who toured the ship after it docked here. "This is the first time such a tragedy has occurred during the history of our company, and we are devastated by this incident," the statement from Princess Cruises said. "Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the fire." Karl Angell, communications director for the Jamaican police, identified the man who died as Richard Liffidge, 75, of Georgia. Some media in the victim's home state said the name was spelled Liffridge and put his age at 72. He collapsed aboard ship and died, authorities said. After the fire started about 3 a.m. Thursday, passengers grabbed life jackets and raced to "muster stations" said Julie Benson, spokeswoman for Princess Cruises, which is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp. The crew put out the fire, then did a cabin-by-cabin search to check for victims and make sure everyone else was safe, she said. The Star Princess was sailing from Grand Cayman to Jamaica when the blaze started. Reportedly built at a cost of over $430 million, it has four swimming pools, a half-dozen restaurants and dining rooms, a casino, two theaters, and several nightclubs. It stretches about three football fields long. Passengers retrieve blackened belongings David Haltom was on his honeymoon when he and his bride awoke in their cabin, smelling smoke and hearing people running in the halls yelling fire. "Everybody ran. There were people in nightgowns and robes because it happened so fast," Haltom said by phone from his Negril hotel. The crew lowered lifeboats to the ship deck and instructed passengers to grab their life vests, he said. After the blaze was extinguished, passengers were allowed to retrieve belongings from their cabins, some blackened from smoke. "You saw people bringing out clothes in bags and they were black, their hands and their faces were black," he said. Zach Bramlage, 19, of Columbus, Ohio, was having a late-night meal when word spread that there was a fire. "Some people just ran in where we were eating and told us the ship is on fire and we got our life vests real quick and headed downstairs," Bramlage said. "I was pretty scared initially, but the captain came over the (intercom) and told us everything was going to be all right." Hours after the ship arrived in Montego Bay before noon, passengers boarded buses that took them to hotels in the nearby resort towns of Negril and Ocho Rios. Other passengers remained on board. 'How could only one person die?' Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of the consumer cruise information web site cruisecritic.com, said in a telephone interview that she was surprised the number of casualties was not greater. "There they were at sea in the middle of the night," she said from Lambertville, New Jersey. "What really struck me when seeing the damage was -- how could only one person die in something so bad?" The U.S. Coast Guard dispatched investigators and fire engineers to help determine the fire's cause and whether the ship was seaworthy, Coast Guard Petty Officer James Judge said in Miami. Representatives from the ship's flag state of Bermuda, the British government and the U.S. Coast Guard were expected to arrive Thursday evening to join a team from Princess Cruise investigating the fire, Nielsen said. The U.S. Embassy has sent a team to Montego Bay to monitor the situation, and their representative in the city, also visited the ship. The ship was expected to sail back to Fort Lauderdale, on Friday, Peterkin said. There was no immediate confirmation from officials at the cruise line. The Star Princess sailed from Fort Lauderdale on March 19. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/03/24/cruise.ship.fire.ap/index.html
My friends Mom and Dad were on that ship. They are okay - thank GOD! They're being flown home today, full refund and 25% off their next cruise. So scary, my poor friend was freaking out before they were able to call her!
Yeah, that was quite scary. We had a lot of them stay at our hotel. It seems like the Cruise Line has done a great job in handling the situation though from what I heard. I think it's the most important thing that such s horrific situation is handled the right way. Julia
lucky that there were no deaths... hysteria could easily break out,... i know id panic if i thought i was in that situation
I was talking with the firefighter and the safety manager onboard my ship and they told me that what happen is that the floor from the promenade deck is made out of something that s very flammable...gloups :-[ and everytime i m on that deck and i look up to the tender boat i m thinking what if one of the gas compartement thingy start to leak??coz it s right on top of the ashtray... but apparently for the princess a smoker from one of the balcony throw his cigarrette and it end up on the promenade deck and it was very hot that morning in jamaica...loads of bad luck and a smoker! ZPS
Yeah living in Florida now I see how easy a fire can start. Sometimes there is not even any need for a cigarette to be involved. With the dry land fire just starts sometimes, there was one near where I live the other day but fortunately they got it under control quickly. Pretty scary though... Julia PS: Guillaume sorry I forgot to call you, there were a million things on my mind before going to Germany so I just remembered on the plane that I said I would call you! I will give it a shot when I am coming back
Hey, So next month I start on DCL as a Youth Counsellor but I went to college to become a firefighter/EMT I am doing the DCL thing in the interm while waiting for a full time firefighting job. What are the chances on DCL that I can be apart of the fire crew? (IF their such thing as firefighters on the ship) What about Emergency Medical Staff? Do EMT/ Paramedics exist on DCL? How can I get in with them? I think that doing the youth counselling thing will be awesome but I also wanna continue doing what I love as a Firefighter so what is the scoop on that type of thing? Thanks all!
Smurf, take all your certificates with you! The Saftey Officer's gonna make the decision if you get duties or not... There is a Medical Stuff on board but you won't make it in the team.. They are all nurses and doctors. Do also think about when you are part of the "first response team" you are on duty all the time, you have quit many training lessons. Dani by the way, where are you from?
Hey I am from Toronto, Ontario, Canada I guess thats what I wanna do on DCL (First Response Team) how often do they get called out, like is fire a common occurance on ships? cuz, that would be a bad thing Also is their financial compensation for being on the First Response Team? just curious because if you are always on duty, that would cut into the little bit of off time that cast onbaord DCL already get....mind you I would do it regardless of extra pay just for the experience.....Do you know the Email of a DCL safety officer I could get intouch with? Thanks a million
Extra money for being part of the 'first response team'? Are you kidding me?? (Sorry, don't wanna be rude but had to say that) They make you do it, no extra pay! U even have to show up on your spare time, regardless if you are first response or if it is just a refreshing class - no compensation because you are not on vacation, and it's for the saftey of the guests and the crew! (Sound like I am the saftey officer, don't I?? ) I was not part of 'frt' but I did 'traffic contolling'. On the Wonder there was not even one youth councellor part of the traffic controlling team. Don't know about the Magic. U can always ask for it when you are on board. A fire is not a common occurance (thank god!), because u can only smoke on designated areas, no smoking in the cabins or on any decks (for guests). The crew can smoke in there cabin, if your cabin mate agrees and you are allowed to smoke in the crew bar. That's it. Every two weeks, when we been in Nassau, we had 'crew drill'. they made an announcment, for example: fire on deck b, stairwell 5 or anywhere else and then we had to go to our positions as fast as possible and later on to our liferaft stations. They had an extra drill for the frt a week later I think. Unfortunatly, I do not have the email of the saftey officer. They also go on vacation every 3month for 2 month, so there is always a coming and leaving. The coolest saftey officer on the Wonder is Stjepo. @ Laura: do u know him? For sure!! Hope I could answer some of your questions. Dani
Ha ya I understand, Well first Response team thing sounds cool hopefully I can be apart of that whole thing. I just hope that a real fire doesnt happen like on the star princess or that carnival ship that went up a few years back, talk about scary.
