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‘Deadliest Catch’ Spoilers: Sig Hansen Talks About Dealing With A Fire On Their Boat

By Mandy Robinson
Published on: 10:42 PST, Jun 21, 2016

This week, on Season 12 of Deadliest Catch, viewers are going to see Sig Hansen deal with a fire on their boat below deck. Of course, this was shocking for Sig and he had to think fast. TV Line got the chance to catch up with him and find out what he had to think about the fire and how they dealt with it all.

When this fire broke out, they were miles from anyone else and it was pretty scary. Sig shared what he thought when it first happened saying, “Honestly, I think I was more afraid than anybody. I just wanted to stay calm. We do a lot of safety programs, and they always tell you to stay calm, so I just repeated that to myself to try and believe it. I think I was lying to myself, put it that way. [Laughs]”

Sig did reveal that they were very lucky in the fact that they didn’t have to get on lifeboats and be stuck out there. They were awake when the fire happened; Sig Hansen and the guys were able to put it out right away. Sig said that a fire out at sea was one of the scariest things that can happen. His daughter Mandy was on board at the time, but he didn’t even think about that until after the fact.

Sig Hansen and the rest of the crew were lucky to survive this fire. Things seem to have worked out well for all of them. Sig did tease that he is “too stupid to do anything else” for a job and will continue working on a boat.

Channel Guide also got the chance to talk to Sig Hansen and shared what he had to say about the fire on the Northwestern. Not everything went down okay with the boat fire. It turned out that Sig’s brother Edgar suffered from smoke inhalation. There was also several thousand dollars worth of damage to the ship. Sig shared his thoughts on why he thought the boat caught fire.

“I think it came about — the boats are getting older. She was built in ’77. It’s age. The panels were never intended for what they’re being put to nowadays. It’s adding more and more, the electrical systems and the hydraulic systems, and with little things just old age. I keep up on the boat. We take it out every year and try to do as much as we can to keep her super looking good. It’s one of the things you just never saw coming.”


The main thing that Sig keeps commenting on is how lucky they are to all be alive. If they had been asleep and this fire had started, then things could have been a lot worse for them. Sig said he is not sure if they will show what his brother had to deal with on the show or not. They got the boat fixed in Seattle, but it cost about $150,000 to $200,000 to get it fixed up and going right again. Sig was asked how the fire ranked, when talking about extreme things he has dealt with over the years, and he shared his thoughts.

“I would say it’s quite a ways up there. As far as extreme, we’ve had the boat on its side, it was sinking under our feet. That was scary. The fire kind of gets you after the fact because you have to react so quickly, but then you really see it after the fact when you get it out. You’re thinking, ‘Boy, you know, you’re in the middle of nowhere and had it been a different time of day or had the guys not responded as well as they did …’ That’s when you see it.”

Are you shocked to hear that Sig Hansen had a fire while out on the Northwestern? Do you feel like Sig is lucky to be alive? Sound off in the comments section below, and don’t miss new episodes of Deadliest Catch Tuesday nights on Discovery.

[Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images]

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