Toaster Fire Disaster

The Toaster Fire disaster was a simulated disaster on the Silver Seas 2018 mission, in which the habitat toaster caused a fire, releasing toxic fumes in the interlock, and destroying the habitat's only roll of paper towel. A video clip of the interlock was captured, and edited to include a large orange flame coming from within the toaster. RAVEN was used to replace the interlock camera with this clip, while simulators entered the room and replaced the roll of paper towels sitting on the counter, near the toaster, with a pile of fake ash (made from paper, painted black and ripped up. EECOM was used to simulate the release of a chemical contaminant. The disaster was planned and executed by Ethan and Jamie Tait-Glossop during a night shift, at approximately 2:30 AM. Simulators, at the time of the disaster, were not aware that the roll of paper towels they planned to take was, in fact, the only roll in the habitat.

Response

After the disaster, astronauts were unable to clean their dishes, and resorted to simply leaving dirty dishes in the interlock sink. After the mission, Ethan and Jamie received backlash from astronauts in response to the disaster, and it has since been used as an example of a poorly-planned disaster resulting in unintended alpha-reality consequences.

Dr. Magwood criticized the disaster for its poor planning, but noted that he liked the use of RAVEN for fire simulation and saw the disaster as successful in that regard.