MadTeacup
Well-Known Member
Reading through this thread, there is clearly a lot of misconception about how a fire like this is contained. Disneyland clearly had an effective plan in place which was to control, but not extinguish the fire. This was evidenced by the short burn time (15 min is short) and the isolation of the flames to just the animatronic.
First, a fire with an active fuel source such as the Isopar gas that Murphy breaths cannot be suppressed effectively. Without a way to safely shut off the fuel source, even the most sophisticated fire suppression system would not have been effective. The only safe response in this circumstance is to let the fuel burn.
It is very clear that the fuel tank is designed to burn off fairly quickly (in about 15 minutes or so). This is a purposeful design so that the fire will be mostly controlled or at least easily contained by the time emergency responders can arrive. I believe the Isopar fuel also burns at a relatively cool temperature. Additionally, with the Dragon structure designed to default to an upright position, it spreads out the burning surface while minimizing the footprint of the burning object. This helps ensure the fire doesn't burn too hot and keeps it from spreading.
Despite what some people argue about convenient placement of the lift prior to the flame effects, it is still required that all new flame effects added to an attraction are designed with proper protections and safety clearances in place. When the flame effects were added, all modern safety guidance was followed.
Evacuation measures were taken as a precaution, but not as a life-safety measure. The fire showed no sign of spreading and was a safe distance from the guests. Disneyland has measures in place for quicker evacuations in times of life-threatening emergencies. This was clearly not deemed life threatening because, to my knowledge, no guests were being escorted to backstage areas.
In my opinion, the cast and crew responded well. The fluid leaking from the mouth may be easy to see when watching a video multiple times, but is easy to miss in the moment, especially when viewing from far away without a zoomed-in camera. The important thing was that when they saw the fire, they reacted quickly and correctly. They parked the animatronic upright and lowered Mickey's lift before shutting down the show control. The only poor response I saw was allowing people on stage with extinguishers and hoses.
My biggest disappointment is that the lessons learned from the Festival of Fantasy Parade Fire at Magic Kingdom were not applied to Disneyland's Fantasmic! When the Maleficent float was rebuilt, she was redesigned to essentially have two fuel tanks. One is the main storage tank and one is more of a standby tank. The standby tank is very small and can only support enough fuel for one burst of flame. Before each burst, the standby tank is filled with fuel from the main tank. A valve is then closed between the two tanks and a sensor tells a computer that the standby tank is filled and ready. Only if the sensor is reading as closed will the standby tank valve open, allowing the fuel to escape and ignite. If the valve for the standby tank fails to close after the burst of flame, no harm done! There is only enough fuel to burn for about 5 seconds or less. This system was actually deemed safer than ANY fire suppression system that could have been installed in the float. It seemed a no-brainer that Disney would retro-fit other fire effects with similar systems. Sadly that was not the case. Yet another example of how REactive vs. PROactive Disney tends to be when it costs money...
First, a fire with an active fuel source such as the Isopar gas that Murphy breaths cannot be suppressed effectively. Without a way to safely shut off the fuel source, even the most sophisticated fire suppression system would not have been effective. The only safe response in this circumstance is to let the fuel burn.
It is very clear that the fuel tank is designed to burn off fairly quickly (in about 15 minutes or so). This is a purposeful design so that the fire will be mostly controlled or at least easily contained by the time emergency responders can arrive. I believe the Isopar fuel also burns at a relatively cool temperature. Additionally, with the Dragon structure designed to default to an upright position, it spreads out the burning surface while minimizing the footprint of the burning object. This helps ensure the fire doesn't burn too hot and keeps it from spreading.
Despite what some people argue about convenient placement of the lift prior to the flame effects, it is still required that all new flame effects added to an attraction are designed with proper protections and safety clearances in place. When the flame effects were added, all modern safety guidance was followed.
Evacuation measures were taken as a precaution, but not as a life-safety measure. The fire showed no sign of spreading and was a safe distance from the guests. Disneyland has measures in place for quicker evacuations in times of life-threatening emergencies. This was clearly not deemed life threatening because, to my knowledge, no guests were being escorted to backstage areas.
In my opinion, the cast and crew responded well. The fluid leaking from the mouth may be easy to see when watching a video multiple times, but is easy to miss in the moment, especially when viewing from far away without a zoomed-in camera. The important thing was that when they saw the fire, they reacted quickly and correctly. They parked the animatronic upright and lowered Mickey's lift before shutting down the show control. The only poor response I saw was allowing people on stage with extinguishers and hoses.
My biggest disappointment is that the lessons learned from the Festival of Fantasy Parade Fire at Magic Kingdom were not applied to Disneyland's Fantasmic! When the Maleficent float was rebuilt, she was redesigned to essentially have two fuel tanks. One is the main storage tank and one is more of a standby tank. The standby tank is very small and can only support enough fuel for one burst of flame. Before each burst, the standby tank is filled with fuel from the main tank. A valve is then closed between the two tanks and a sensor tells a computer that the standby tank is filled and ready. Only if the sensor is reading as closed will the standby tank valve open, allowing the fuel to escape and ignite. If the valve for the standby tank fails to close after the burst of flame, no harm done! There is only enough fuel to burn for about 5 seconds or less. This system was actually deemed safer than ANY fire suppression system that could have been installed in the float. It seemed a no-brainer that Disney would retro-fit other fire effects with similar systems. Sadly that was not the case. Yet another example of how REactive vs. PROactive Disney tends to be when it costs money...
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