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Bodies of 20 Victims Recovered in California Boat Fire Deadly California Boat Fire Prompts Scrutiny of Regulations
(about 1 hour later)
Officials on Tuesday said they had called off a search for survivors of a devastating fire that engulfed a commercial scuba diving vessel off the coast of Southern California after recovering 20 bodies. SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The boat had long operated with a modern fire-suppression system in its engine room and was deemed safe to sail, having passed a Coast Guard inspection as recently as February that required smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.
As the scope of the disaster became clear, with 14 people still unaccounted for, family members gathered, some from outside of the region, on the coast at a family support center at a local fairground awaiting news about their loved ones. A makeshift memorial to the victims, with flowers, candles and notes, was erected at the harbor in Santa Barbara. But that apparently was not enough to stop the brutal fire that overtook the Conception in the early morning hours of Labor Day, leaving 34 people dead and prompting increased scrutiny about whether regulations in place to prevent such tragedies go far enough.
The deadly fire was the worst maritime disaster in California in recent memory, and was another tragedy endured in recent years by the coastal community around Santa Barbara, which faced a devastating wildfire in 2017 followed by deadly mudslides. Though the cause of the fire is unknown, the scope of Monday’s devastation has left industry experts and officials baffled at how a respected boat operator lost an entire excursion of people inside the hull of a ship outfitted with safety systems intended to protect any such vessel.
Sheriff Bill Brown of Santa Barbara County said at a news conference on Tuesday morning that 20 bodies had been recovered and that divers had seen between four and six additional bodies in the wreckage, but were not yet able to recover them. Five crew members were able to escape, including the captain, and were the only ones to survive. The boat, a 75-foot scuba vessel named the Conception, had 39 people on board — six crew members and 33 passengers. The deadly fire near the Channel Islands, a national park on the California coast, was the state’s worst maritime disaster in recent memory, and officials on Tuesday said they had called off a search for survivors.
Sheriff Bill Brown of Santa Barbara County said at a news conference on Tuesday morning that 20 bodies had been recovered and that 14 people remained unaccounted for. He added that divers had seen between four and six additional bodies in the wreckage, but were not yet able to recover them.
Five crew members were able to escape, including the captain, and were the only ones to survive. The boat, a 75-foot scuba vessel, had 39 people on board — six crew members and 33 passengers.
“Sadly, no additional survivors have been found,” Sheriff Brown said.“Sadly, no additional survivors have been found,” Sheriff Brown said.
Among the victims were reportedly at least two students from the Pacific Collegiate School, a local charter school for grades seven to 12, and two parents, according to local news reports.
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Sheriff Brown said that among the 20 bodies recovered, 11 were women and nine were men. He said investigators were in the process of identifying the victims, and collecting DNA samples from family members to help match the victims with loved ones. State investigators had arrived in Santa Barbara to assist, and were planning to use a DNA analysis tool that was used last year to identify victims of the Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif. There are 19 commercial diving boats like the Conception operating off the Southern California coast from San Diego to Santa Barbara, according to the Coast Guard.
“It is never an easy decision to suspend search efforts,” said Capt. Monica Rochester, a Coast Guard spokeswoman. “We know this is a very difficult time for families and friends of victims. We have suspended search efforts due to no additional individuals having been witnessed entering the water. Our last aircraft overflight this morning has revealed that no additional signs of distress or debris has been witnessed.” Federal regulations for small passenger vessels require spaces for overnight accommodations to have a smoke detection and alarm unit. Accommodation spaces must also have at least one portable fire extinguisher, clearly visible and readily available, for every 2,500 square feet, according to regulations. Engine areas must have a fixed fire-suppression system, with controls located away from that area. Passenger areas must have at least two routes of escape, separated from each other, with regulations detailing extensive rules around visibility, accessibility and usability. The Conception appeared to be in compliance.
Officials did not say what they believed to be the cause of the fire, only that the victims had been trapped by flames. According to regulations, the Conception was required to have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, and officials said the vessel had been in compliance. Fires on the open water can quickly turn deadly. That the fire on the Conception broke out overnight, while passengers were asleep, appears to have severely inhibited the crew’s ability to respond.
“We’re sensitive to the fact that families have gathered today, some from outside the area, to bring their loved ones home and in many cases will only be faced with the ability to know that we recovered them,” said Mark A. Hartwig, Santa Barbara County’s fire chief. “And they will rely on us to do everything in our power to find out what happened aboard that vessel in the last moments of those family members’ lives.” “You couldn’t have asked for a worse situation,” Sheriff Brown said during a news conference. “You have a vessel in the open sea that is in the middle of the night.”
Bob Hansen was sleeping in his fishing boat just a few hundred feet from the Conception when he was roused by panicked crew members who had escaped. On Tuesday, family members, some from outside of the region, gathered at a local fairground on the coast to await news about their loved ones. A makeshift memorial to the victims, with flowers, candles and notes, was erected at the harbor in Santa Barbara.
“I could see the fire coming through holes on the side of the boat,” Mr. Hansen said. “There were these explosions every few beats. You can’t prepare yourself for that. It was horrendous.” The Conception is owned by Truth Aquatics and has been in operation since 1981. The boat was configured to accommodate up to 46 people in the sleeping quarters, according to specifications offered by the company. Diagrams of the boat available online show a single exit up to its galley.
The Conception had been anchored off the shore of Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the Channel Islands, a national park of caves and coves off the Southern California coast. The Conception’s most recent inspection, in February, did not note any problems.
The passengers had been on three-day diving expedition, and at the time of the fire were sleeping below deck in double-stacked bunk beds, which were tightly packed in one room, according to the website of Truth Aquatics, the Santa Barbara-based company that operated the vessel and for decades has taken passengers on diving trips around the islands. The sleeping quarters were open, with no locked doors and only curtains for privacy. Aboard the Conception, the company reported, were life rafts and life jackets for 110 passengers. The boat’s engine room was equipped with a fixed CO2 fire-suppression system so that a fire there could be knocked down without using hand-held extinguishers.
A distress call that went out at about 3:15 a.m. Monday morning — less than an hour before the passengers were to be woken up for the day’s diving — was recorded by a Ventura County Marine radio channel: “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” a man’s voice yelled. “I can’t breathe!” he screamed. Capt. Sean Tortora, who runs a consulting business, Long Island Maritime, and wrote a book titled “Study Guide for Marine Fire Prevention, Firefighting, and Fire Safety,” said the combination of the engine-room system and extinguishers sounded appropriate for the vessel. He said that while the berthing area seemed quite large for the size of the ship, he did not immediately see signs that would run counter to industry regulations.
As the sun rose on Monday, the boat, moored in Platts Harbor on the north side of Santa Cruz Island, was smoking but still afloat, according to a photograph posted by the Santa Barbara Fire Department. Later in the morning, it sank, just 20 yards from shore. But Captain Tortora said that the scope of the devastation was surprising. Besides the cause of the fire, he said he had questions about whether the fire-detection systems functioned properly, whether the boat’s fuel systems contributed to the fire, and whether something prevented the passengers from exiting through the normal routes.
Numerous federal agencies, including the Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Park Service, and local law enforcement departments were involved in what officials said on Tuesday had become a recovery operation. Rescuers on Tuesday were planning to raise the boat — it is upside down in about 60 feet of water — and bring it to shore, after crafting a salvage plan to ensure the safety of responders. “It went up fast, very fast, so fast that no one could get out,” Captain Tortora said. “Why couldn’t they get out the main entrance?”
He said he expected the tragedy to trigger an industry discussion about whether new regulations are needed.
Coast Guard inspectors have at times noted minor issues inside the Conception. In 2014, they mandated that the company replace a fire hose. In 2016, the company was asked to prove that its fire-detection systems functioned properly. In 2017, they required the company to replace a fire extinguisher, according to Coast Guard records.
Truth Aquatics, which has been operating since 1974, is deeply respected among diving enthusiasts in Southern California. It caters to diving activities that carry built-in risks and has had several accidents and deaths, but nothing on the scale of what happened this week on the Conception.
In 2016, a diver from the Conception was found unresponsive after surfacing from a dive on the north side of Santa Cruz Island, according to records. The crew performed CPR for about 30 minutes before a Coast Guard worker pronounced the man dead. Records indicate that the coroner determined the cause of death was drowning, possibly connected to pre-existing medical conditions, such as heart disease.
In 1995, a 35-year-old certified diver drowned while scuba diving in the Channel Islands, according to a report by The Los Angeles Times; he had become separated from his diving partner. In 1998, a 32-year-old man died during a diving trip, according to The Times.
In a separate 1998 episode, the Coast Guard responded to a distress call made by the Truth, another Truth Aquatics boat. According to The Times, the boat briefly took on water but was fixed by the time the Coast Guard arrived. It was inspected for safety and returned to service.
Fire risk, while inherent to boating, is far less common. When fires do occur, however, they can quickly spread on diving boats, fishing boats and other open-sea vessels.
Anna MacKinnon, who lives in San Jose, took a trip on the Conception several years ago and said she recalled how densely packed the bunk beds were. “I thought, ‘If something goes wrong, oh, we’re done for,’” said Ms. MacKinnon, 55, who said she has been diving since she was in college.
Irene Miranda, a retired dive instructor with a doctorate in marine conservation, said tight sleeping quarters were common on diving boats. Many of her estimated 2,000 dives have been on multiday trips to the Channel Islands, including several on the Conception.
“Fire is especially threatening on any boat,” she said. “Boating and diving have inherent risks. A seasoned crew helps minimize those risks, but boating and diving activities are unforgiving. A small mistake or unlucky circumstance can be catastrophic.”
“The accident was a perfect storm of terrible circumstances that our entire community of divers mourn,” she added.
Ms. Miranda said the dive community in California was “pretty tightknit because we truly have to guard each other’s lives in these situations.” She said that diving was an especially difficult activity with no room for carelessness, and that fire was one of the worst things that can happen on a boat. “Your boat goes down and you could be in the middle of the ocean alone,” she said.
But she also stressed that Truth Aquatics was very respected in the region among expert divers and enthusiasts.
Asked if the crew should have stayed on the boat longer, she said that, based on initial accounts, the crew appeared to have done everything it could have. She stressed how disorienting being out on the water at night can be, in any circumstances.
“It sounds like they did everything right,” she said. “The captain risked his life to make that mayday call and they just needed help, they needed more people.”