An investigation into HMCS Chicoutimi's disaster has learned the Oct. 5 fire came close to being much worse.

The crew had completely run out of firefighting supplies battling blazes that day and almost exhausted its supply of oxygen bottles for injured crew members, according to a Canadian Press report.

It was fortunate that HMS Montrose, a British rescue frigate, came when it did, as it replenished the diesel-electric submarine's firefighting supplies. It arrived about 24 hours after the fires started.

A terrifying aspect of the ordeal was the repeated flare-ups of the fires. Just when the crew thought they had one of the major blazes extinguished, it would return to life.

As it was, nine men were injured by smoke inhalation. One of those men, Lieut. Chris Saunders, eventually died of his injuries. After the fire broke out, Saunders ran from the control room and was found on another deck, unconscious and only a few metres from breathing masks.

The navy's official story is that fires were contained within 15 minutes.

The two worst blazes had broken out in both the submarine's control room and in an electrical space one deck down. A third fire occurred in an oxygen generator, but was considered relatively minor.

It took about two hours to clear the smoke from the submarine, which was at the surface.

Some experts have wondered why it took so long, saying the smoke should have been cleared within a matter of minutes.

Sailors and officers gave written statements to a military investigation. Verbal testimony went on over the weekend in a Glasgow hotel.

The other three submarines, part of a four-sub, $750-million deal with Britain -- are docked until the inquiry determines whether the disaster was as a result of circumstances particular to the Chicoutimi or whether there are systemic problems with the subs.

Canada might be charged

In a report on the Scotsman.com newspaper website, British cabinet ministers are reportedly considering charging Canada for the rescue effort.

The Chicoutimi was towed back to port in Faslane, Scotland on Oct. 10.

A specific number wasn't mentioned, but it was said to be in a multi-million-pound range. A UK pound was worth about $2.26 Cdn. as of Friday.

"As for the costs of rescue, Canada will not be charged for any efforts to prevent loss of life. But it is far too early to say what additional recovery costs there will be and where those costs will fall," Baroness Christine Crawley, who is the government whip in the House of Lords, was quoted by Scotsman.com as saying.

The Department of National Defence told CTV said it hasn't heard anything about having to pay for any part of the Chicoutimi rescue.

The news didn't sit so well with some Canadian veterans who saved British lives in the Second World War.

"I don't believe they'd be returning the favour by charging us," Lou Sadowski told CTV News.

Canada has mused about compensation of its own.

Prime Minister Paul Martin told reporters on Saturday, "I pointed out to (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair that there were costs, liabilities that obviously arise from this."

The two met at the Progressive Governance Summit in Hungary.

Martin wasn't pleased by remarks made by Geoff Hoon, the British defence secretary, who said this was a case of buyer beware.

"They had undergone rigorous trials and tests and, indeed, Canada has had the opportunity over very many years of surveying the boats, and obviously has been in negotiations with the United Kingdom during that period,'' Hoon told the BBC.

"I certainly don't think that they (Hoon's comments) were the kind of remarks that should have been made under this particular circumstance,'' Martin said.

A spokesman for Blair said the prime minister expressed his condolences to the Saunders family and agreed it was important to await the board of inquiry's outcome.

With files from The Canadian Press