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How does a ship like this burn for so long? Is there much that can be burned? I was under the impression it's mostly steel and other non-flammable materials. I
by Avalaxy 6y ago
How does a ship like this burn for so long? Is there much that can be burned? I was under the impression it's mostly steel and other non-flammable materials. I was also under the impression that a ship like this is compartmentalized in sections that can be individually shut off (to deprive it of enough oxygen to keep the fire going).
- throwanem 6y agoPaint, oil, tar, grease, hydraulic fluids, stores of any kind - steel won't burn, but all that stuff does and there's plenty of it. Even museum ships smell richly of volatiles. Go into an unventilated space on a hot day and it's not hard at all to imagine a fire. Compartmentalization is much more for controlling flooding than fire, although it can help slow down (but not stop) the spread of fire throughout a ship. It sounds a bit late for that in this case, and setting watertight integrity also requires people to physically close and dog hatches which likely can't even be survivably reached at this point.
- neverartful 6y agoSteel can indeed burn (although it's not a fuel/combustible). Anyone who's done any blacksmithing with coal will most likely have first-hand experience of steel burning.
- throwanem 6y agoI guess just about anything will burn in oxygen if you can get enough heat into it to ignite it, sure. That's why I said the steel won't burn, not that it can't burn. I don't think a fire aboard a ship would be likely to manage it, although a specialist in shipboard fires may know better.
- KineticLensman 6y ago> Admiral Sobeck said sailors on board said that [the fire] had started in a cavernous open area used for storing trucks and amphibious vehicles used by Marines and that it may have been fueled by heavy-duty cardboard boxes and other materials in storage