Thread: Update on Star Princess Fire -- April 13, 2006

From Princess website...

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.


We believe the fire is an isolated incident, and would like to stress that our company has been safely operating ships with large numbers of balconies for over ten years. This is the first such incident that has occurred.


Nevertheless, after the fire we immediately put in place on all our ships precautions designed to ensure that, in the unlikely event of a similar situation happening again, we would be able to quickly detect and extinguish the fire.


To that end, we implemented a 24-hour fire watch of our balconies, introduced specific training and fire response procedures for our crew in handling fires on balconies, enhanced communication to passengers regarding fire safety, and changed certain crew housekeeping procedures on balconies.
We want to assure our passengers that with these measures in place, they should not be concerned, and can feel confident that their safety and well being aboard our ships is not compromised.


Further to the immediate precautionary measures already in place, we are moving quickly to provide long-term and permanent measures to improve fire safety on our balconies. We are well advanced with the development of these permanent measures and, naturally, will be taking fully into account the requirements of the regulatory authorities in both the United Kingdom and the United States.


We will provide additional information as it becomes available.

Excellent

Interesting that there still was no word of whether there was some kind of accellerant (ie alcohol). It is hard to fathom that a cigarette could, by itself, cause that kind of blaze.

Thanks for the up PS. It comes as no surprise to me that the fire started on, and for the most part was isolated to balconies. I'm sure that when all is said and done some sort of accellerant and not a cigarette is the cause. I truly hope that if someone did in fact start this fire, has is being suspected in other posts, they have a very hard time slepping at night and looking at themselves in the mirror.

Again, hats off to Princess in the way they are handling this incident. I hope they continue to be straight forward. We regular Princess cruisers can handle the truth.