Why aren't bus seats made from flame retardant material?

[Gobbler]

Look at the photos of the burned bus. The fire traveled up the side of the bus, and somehow ignited the seats? How? Did it go through a window? 

 

Once the fire started, it looked like the seats burned fast. The children had no chance.  Did they die from toxic fumes and or smoke? 

 

I'll say that 99 percent of buses have flammable seats. 

 

Do you happen to know anything about this?

[SAFETY FIRST]

15 minutes ago, Gobbler said:

Why aren't bus seats made from flame retardant material?

 

Once the fire started, it looked like the seats burned fast

💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲

 

The bus a 1971 model, it had an engine replaced and illegally installed gas cylinders. 

 

I reckon the bus owner was not interested in forking out money for seats made of flame retardant material. 

 

These bus owners spend money on the BLING, not safety. 

 

 

[Gobbler]

Do you really want your children in a bus like this? 

 

 

[JimHuaHin]

1 hour ago, Gobbler said:

Do you really want your children in a bus like this? 

 

 

Short answer "No way"!

[bendejo]

Are these the buses that the KSR crowd uses to get to Samui? 

Or is that no more?

 

[retarius]

2 hours ago, Gobbler said:

Do you really want your children in a bus like this? 

 

 

NO......nor me either.

[harryviking]

Bus seats???? LOL! What about fiber glass body? The whole bus, and I mostly mean the double decker's we see with all the tourists, is flamable! It is a death trap.

[newbee2022]

6 hours ago, Gobbler said:

Look at the photos of the burned bus. The fire traveled up the side of the bus, and somehow ignited the seats? How? Did it go through a window? 

 

Once the fire started, it looked like the seats burned fast. The children had no chance.  Did they die from toxic fumes and or smoke? 

 

I'll say that 99 percent of buses have flammable seats. 

 

Do you happen to know anything about this?

1. The gas tanks were placed below the seats.

2. No regulations for seat's material yet.

[Sydebolle]

Trust me, flame-retarding seat covers are the least of the problem in Thailand's fleet of "King of Bus". This accident blew everything out of proportion; the kids had no chances for all the wrong reasons. 

The driver is the "least guilty", get the entire lot of thousands of incompetent or corrupt staff in the transport ministry, the DLT, the fleet insurance, they tour company^s staff and certainly the owner(s) to the King's bench, cross-examine them on a person-by-person basis with live feed on social media and TV and, if found guilty, off to the slammer and throw away the key. 

The seat covers play a minor role and, in this case, most likely completely irrelevant 

[jippytum]

7 hours ago, Gobbler said:

Look at the photos of the burned bus. The fire traveled up the side of the bus, and somehow ignited the seats? How? Did it go through a window? 

 

Once the fire started, it looked like the seats burned fast. The children had no chance.  Did they die from toxic fumes and or smoke? 

 

I'll say that 99 percent of buses have flammable seats. 

 

Do you happen to know anything about this?

Lots of items you have in your home are a fire risk.  Usually settees and  mattresses as an example. 

[brianthainess]

19 minutes ago, harryviking said:

Bus seats???? LOL! What about fiber glass body? The whole bus, and I mostly mean the double decker's we see with all the tourists, is flamable! It is a death trap.

Not sure what your trying to say The body did not catch fire, Fiber glass would not catch fire, nor would steel/aluminum. The seats burnt and the heat broke the glass, the body did not catch fire at all from Photos and Vids I have seen. 

[brianthainess]

7 hours ago, Gobbler said:

Look at the photos of the burned bus. The fire traveled up the side of the bus, and somehow ignited the seats? How? Did it go through a window? 

 

Once the fire started, it looked like the seats burned fast. The children had no chance.  Did they die from toxic fumes and or smoke? 

 

I'll say that 99 percent of buses have flammable seats. 

 

Do you happen to know anything about this?

I think the fire started under the driver inside the bus and under the floor, going by many reports. From what I have seen the floors are made with what looks like wooden/ply hatches especially on a vintage model 54 years old.

[brianthainess]

6 hours ago, Gobbler said:

Do you really want your children in a bus like this? 

 

 

I don't even want to be in one yet alone my kids if I had young one's, I prefer to drive myself. 

[Classic Ray]

These materials just made it worse. Once a cylinder, valve or piping failed, highly compressed natural gas ignited like a flamethrower and turned the inside of the bus into an inferno.

 

As the installation of the extra cylinders was unauthorised, I doubt if any of the internal piping was flameproof, so would have burst and added more gas to the flames.

 

Whether the proper report will ever be produced or published, we will see.

 

CNG should really not be contained within or fitted to a passenger vehicle, although this would be a major change for Thai taxis that all seem to have a tank in the boot.

 

i am also concerned about the lack/failure of emergency exits which may be connected with the rebodying of this 50 year old chassis. If they had worked properly many more lives could have been saved.

[Burma Bill]

9 hours ago, Gobbler said:

Look at the photos of the burned bus. The fire traveled up the side of the bus, and somehow ignited the seats? How? Did it go through a window? 

 

Once the fire started, it looked like the seats burned fast. The children had no chance.  Did they die from toxic fumes and or smoke? 

 

I'll say that 99 percent of buses have flammable seats. 

 

Do you happen to know anything about this?

 

Thanks for your observations and this was a suggestion I made on AN at the time.

From my experience as a now retired forensic scientist, the thick black smoke and fumes pouring from the inferno inside the bus suggest flammable seats, coverings and panels etc. If this was the case, the victims would have tragically died from the inhalation of toxic fumes such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, products of burning polyurethane foam.

[sikishrory]

From bbcs story: 

UNECE regulation UN R118, which requires bus interiors to be made with non-flammable materials, was officially introduced in Thailand in 2022, but does not apply to buses made before then, or buses adapted using older chassis.

80% of Thailands buses are old.

[wombat]

Because the retardants that sign off on it go for the lowest quote would be my guess.

[scorecard]

13 hours ago, Gobbler said:

Look at the photos of the burned bus. The fire traveled up the side of the bus, and somehow ignited the seats? How? Did it go through a window? 

 

Once the fire started, it looked like the seats burned fast. The children had no chance.  Did they die from toxic fumes and or smoke? 

 

I'll say that 99 percent of buses have flammable seats. 

 

Do you happen to know anything about this?

Should be law that seats and in fact all internal materials, wall coverings, framework are inflammable. Surely not difficult.

[john donson]

14 hours ago, Gobbler said:

Look at the photos of the burned bus. The fire traveled up the side of the bus, and somehow ignited the seats? How? Did it go through a window? 

 

Once the fire started, it looked like the seats burned fast. The children had no chance.  Did they die from toxic fumes and or smoke? 

 

I'll say that 99 percent of buses have flammable seats. 

 

Do you happen to know anything about this?

 

your sofa is full of flame retardants... so is your mattress, but gives toxic smoke when lit... even not lit, off gassing,not healthy

[Liverpool Lou]

8 hours ago, harryviking said:

Bus seats???? LOL! What about fiber glass body? The whole bus, and I mostly mean the double decker's we see with all the tourists, is flamable! It is a death trap.

No more so than every other vehicle on the road...they all burn.

[Liverpool Lou]

7 hours ago, brianthainess said:

the floors are made with what looks like wooden/ply hatches especially on a vintage model 54 years old.

That may have been the case in the 70s but this bus was completely rebuilt and re-registered in 2018, look at the photos of it and similar buses, that is not a 70s design.

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, Classic Ray said:

i am also concerned about the lack/failure of emergency exits which may be connected with the rebodying of this 50 year old chassis. If they had worked properly many more lives could have been saved.

The bus in question had fully functional exits.

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, wombat said:

Because the retardants that sign off on it go for the lowest quote would be my guess.

"...the retardants that sign off on it..."

No substances that make the progress or growth of something slower are able to sign anything.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

Should be law that seats and in fact all internal materials, wall coverings, framework are inflammable. Surely not difficult.

Inflammable?  You want them to burn easily?  You're right, that's not difficult.

[scorecard]

10 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Inflammable?  You want them to burn easily?  You're right, that's not difficult.

My error and thanks for the education.

 

Should have written nonflammable.

 

[Gobbler]

21 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The bus in question had fully functional exits.

How could you possibly know this? 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 minute ago, Gobbler said:

22 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The bus in question had fully functional exits.

How could you possibly know this? 

By watching demonstrations of it on news reports, that's how.

[cowellandrew]

What's the point when you are sitting on half a dozen tanks no probably 8 tanks of lap gas!

Same with trucks!

🚀

[Lacessit]

19 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

 

Thanks for your observations and this was a suggestion I made on AN at the time.

From my experience as a now retired forensic scientist, the thick black smoke and fumes pouring from the inferno inside the bus suggest flammable seats, coverings and panels etc. If this was the case, the victims would have tragically died from the inhalation of toxic fumes such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, products of burning polyurethane foam.

Most cheap furniture cushioning is polyurethane foam. The premium cushion material is foamed natural rubber latex.

 

It is difficult to make polyurethane flame retardant, as the compounds added for reduced flammabilty affect service life adversely.

 

The Volkswagen Beetle used to have very comfortable seats made of coconut fibre molded with natural latex, I don't know if seats are made that way anymore.