As i recall it took several days to put out the fire...and the steel was reported to be warped around where the fire was. Warping and heat will make the steel more brittle. Sadly with that part of the hull buried in the silt at the sinking location, we may never be able to see the 'hole' or 'tear' that the impact of the iceberg created. I wonder if there will ever be an attempt to 'vacuum' away the silt on that side area to maybe reveal the damage. Sadly if they had simply designed the water tight walls to close at the top - the damn ship may have stayed afloat long enough to rescue most of the passengers. I mean - is it that hard to think that if one compartment flood that it wouldn't overflow into the next one like in an ice tray? My question is always been this - why didn't it roll on it's side. Most ships I have heard of that start to sink usually capsize or roll...but this ship didn't. Hmmm....