On the morning of May 23, 2000, while the Netherlands-registered
passenger ship Nieuw Amsterdam was en route to Glacier National
Park with 1,169 passengers and 542 crewmembers on board,
a fire broke out in a crew cabin. A premature effort to
extinguish the fire by officers lacking proper gear and
backup contributed to the spread of fire and smoke. The
fire did not spread beyond the deck of origin; however,
the untimely closing of fire screen doors allowed the smoke
to migrate up eight decks, creating hazardous conditions
in crew and passenger accommodations. Properly outfitted
and equipped shipboard firefighting teams subsequently extinguished
the fire. One passenger sustained smoke inhalation injuries
requiring evacuation to a shoreside hospital for additional
medical treatment. Property damage to the vessel was estimated
at more than $360,000.
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