Posted on 09/03/2019 8:08:34 AM PDT by sheana
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A middle-of-the-night fire swept a boat carrying recreational scuba divers anchored near an island off the Southern California coast early Monday, leaving at least 25 dead and nine others missing.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr Matthew Kroll said Monday night that 25 people had died. Five of six crew members on the Conception escaped by jumping into an inflatable boat they steered to a nearby vessel.
Rescuers initially recovered four bodies about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles just off Santa Cruz Island, and 16 others were pulled from the water later in the day. The Coast Guard says five others have been found but not recovered due to unsafe conditions under the boat, which sank about 20 yards (18 meters) from shore.
Authorities will search for the nine people still unaccounted for through the night.
“We should all be prepared to move into the worst outcome,” Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester said at a news conference.
The four bodies recovered initially had injuries consistent with drowning, Kroll said.
(Excerpt) Read more at kget.com ...
Thanks for the mention.
Your comments on this thread have provided far more information than I can glean from news reports. Thank you.
Yes, and once they had escaped the fire and were in another boat, did they not try to rescue any of the passengers who apparently were jumping into the water?
“Somebody’s getting sued, and probably going to jail”
That boat had plenty of Inspections. My understanding is that the owners took care of the findings. Whatever the regulations were for egress from that boat it was in compliance. UNLESS a hatch was locked or being blocked by equipment etc..... As to that the fire destroyed a lot of evidence and the only witnesses are the Crew. Civil Suit for sure. Criminal negligence? I’m not so sure about.
Those waters are said to be shark infested. Hammerheads-known man-eatters. The way the boat burned sounds fishy. Why were both the exits blocked? Something happened that started this. Lots of questions.
Those waters are said to be shark infested. Hammerheads-known man-eatters. The way the boat burned sounds fishy. Why were both the exits blocked? Something happened that started this. Lots of questions.
its not confirmed yet if there was an explosion. However, when I’m talking about lithium batteries, I’m not talking about ones like the coin type we put in our remote controllers and stuff. The LIPO batteries used in high current and powerful video lights and cameras are considerably larger that a coin. Think the size of a hockey puck or a garage door opener. Now imagine 8 or nine of them on a wooden galley table, side by side and one catches fire. The CAN be a significant explosive event under the right circumstances.
Haha - Divers only wish the waters were shark infested. Why else take up the sport unless you want to get up close and personal with apex predators? No hammerheads up here in Southern California - just a lot of Great Whites. :-)
Thanks for the mention.
While there may have been a significant explosion, I suspect it would have been a larger one with gas involved.
I thought I had heard there was an explosion, perhaps not.
IF propane heaters and cooking equipment were in use and a leak developed, the propane gas would tend to sink (heavier than air) and might tend to accumulate in bilge spaces unnoticed by passengers and crew in a boat not equipped or with a malfunctioning detection system...
Once bilge spaces are charged with gas/air mix all that’s necessary for an explosive fire is the gas/air flammable range meeting an ignition source...
Heard a recent report that the 2nd escape hatch was locked or blocked from above - thus no secondary exit.
Your point about tight quarters reminds me of incidents on commercial aircraft in which passengers were retrieving valuables from storage compartments, blocking an orderly exit during an emergency.
Very true, and no matter what the flight crew says, these people still want to get their “stuff” out of the overhead. You can always replace your “stuff,” and as for your laptop, just keep it with you - like on your lap - on the flight.
However, in this case, there were no bags and the crew seems to have been missing in action. I have no idea of the conditions, whether the fire had burst into the area suddenly or whether there was smoke. The crew, including the captain, leaped off the deck immediately and nobody seems to have tried to help these people get out.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are criminal charges.
Look for the video from the assist boat and LASFD. They’re hosing the fire with water and there is one spot that actually gets bigger when the spray hits it. Unusual to see that but that is typical of burning lithium reaction to water. Only powder for a Class D blaze.
How would anyone know if the second escape hatch was blocked or locked? They’re all deceased and there was nothing left of the boat. There’s some iron on the bottom but that’s about it. No crew is going to say “oh yeah, we block emergency exits all the time - what ? “
Nice catch. Thanks for the mention.
I believe the Captain did say it was blocked on the radio transmission, mayday call.
Jerry Boylan- Captain of the Conception is one of the best or he wouldn’t be working Truth Aquatics or Conception. I don’t know him personally but his reputation in the dive community is unquestioned. I’d go on a boat with Truth Aquatics tomorrow if they asked. People envy that kind of operation around here.
Regardless of how or what started the fire, it burned incredibly hot and spread quite fast with the main evac route blocked by fire.
That is not in dispute, a horrendous conflagration.
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