"John" wrote in message
...
Dave Sorenson posted this in another group and I thought it was worth
posting here.

I saw a very similar thing about 45 years ago near Sebastian Inlet, in
Florida. If I live 45 more, I still won't forget it.

Lots of things went wrong . . . but some of the people in this story
really rose to the occasion.

************************************************** ************************************************** ****************************
....snip

People here all pitched in, worked together, and prevented what could
have been a much larger tragedy.

[snip]

Now beaurocracy drives me mad but...

The whole point of health and Safety reviews and procedures is so that these
type of things are preempted by knowing about them in advance.

The whole dock should have had a Safety Statement and the events like the
above wuld almost certainly not happen.

fire hoses would be long enough and have no holes. Procedures l;ike wearing
jackets when in dock or on marinas would be in place (especially for
children). People wuol be briefed on locations and types of fire
estinguisher. non burnable cables would be available in certain places.
people would know where to gather if there is a fire. Fire drills would be
conducted. Alevel of training would be required of certain people e.g. a
safety officer wuld always be on duty at a fuel dock or marina and a chain
of command established etc.

My grandfather used to say "Accidents don't happen they are caused". Im not
blaming anyone but if people had considered all the possible dangers IN
ADVANCE then much of the problems whch arose could have been averted.