LOS ANGELES – Crew members on a dive boat say they were never notified of emergency action before the ship caught fire before anchoring off the coast of Southern California, killing 34 people as they slept under the deck, the public said Wednesday. According to the federal documents.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board say the cause of the fire at the Conception is uncertain but possible ignition points were plugged into phones and other electronics outlets. A crew member told investigators he saw sparks when he plugged in a cellphone hours before the fire.
The boat was carrying 33 passengers during last year’s Labor Day weekend scuba diving expedition. The fire broke out on the final night, as the ception was the home port of the boat, next to Santa Cruz Island, 25 miles south of Santa Barbara.
All the passengers and one crew member sleeping under the deck were killed – no one had a chance to escape. Five other crew members, including Captain Jerry Boylan, jumped into the water and survived. Others barely escaped after a futile attempt to save them, officials said. Boyle in the morning: 14 :: 14. “I can’t breathe,” Mayde called, before leaving the ship
They got into a nearby boat, whose captain kept calling for help as the concept crew members returned in search of survivors. It took more than an hour after Boylan’s first My Day call for the Coast Guard and other boats to arrive. After the break of the day the concept sank.
Boyle could face federal genocide counts, and recent court documents say criminal charges are imminent. The NTSB said all six crew members fell asleep when the fire started, violating Coastguard rules, requiring a rowing watch.
Hundreds of pages of documents released by the Security Council provide details of the boat’s last hours on September 2, 2019. It will vote October 20 on the findings of the investigation, as well as the possible cause of the blaze and any possible recommendations.
Ryan Sims, who had only been working on the boat in the morning for three weeks, told investigators he asked the captain to discuss emergency plans the day before the fire. Boyle reportedly told him: “When we have time.”
“I didn’t know what the proceedings were going to be,” Sims said. Other crew members also said they were not familiar with the safety process.
Sims told investigators he fell asleep after seeing sparks when he plugged into a cellphone, and documents do not indicate he reported what he saw. He told investigators that “whenever he was in a sleep-like state, he heard a pop and then a sound below the floor” while another member of the crew shouted, “Fire! Fire! Fire!”
Sims, who broke his leg to escape the burning boat, has sued the ship’s owners and the company that leased it, alleging the concept was not seaworthy and operated unsafely.
The families of the 32 victims have also filed lawsuits against the boat owners, Glenn and Dana Fritzler, and the boat company, Truth Aquatics. In return, Fritzlers and the company have filed a lawsuit to protect them from damage under maritime law that limits liability for ship owners. Court filings show they have offered to settle the lawsuit with relatives of dozens of victims.
Lawyers for the victims’ families, Sims, Boylan and Fritzlers, did not return requests for immediate comment. The U.S. is investigating the case in Los Angeles. A spokesman for the attorney’s office declined to comment.
Boylans and fritzlers, who had three dive boats, have a good reputation among customers and the Santa Barbara boating community. Coast Guard records show Concept has passed two of its most recent safety inspections.
In 2018, Concept’s sister boat – Vision – had a small fire involving a lithium-ion battery. The Coast Guard inspection after the concept fire found 40 violations, including 11 related to fire safety. After deciding to make it difficult for another person in his double bunk bed to escape, he reduced the boat’s overnight capacity to 33 people. An inspection a few months ago found no violations.
-Foot-ft, passengers were sleeping in a tiered bunk below the main deck on a wooden hull concept. From one end of the bunk room the stairs led to the galley, like an escape hatch about 22 inches by 22 inches above the top and away from the stairs.
NTSB board member Jennifer Homandy noted how difficult it was to reach the hatch when she visited Vision.
The documents say Concept’s escape hatch was usually discussed during a security briefing but passengers did not show where it was.
Kyle McAvoy, a maritime security expert with Robson Forensics in Philadelphia, who is often an expert witness in the trial, said the hatch’s safety briefing should have been discussed but how to open it needed to be “very clear and unambiguous.”
During a visit to the ship’s second captain, Cullen Moliter, investigators repeatedly asked about items plugged into electrical outlets in the galley of the concept.
On the night of the fire, divers plugged in flashlights, camera equipment, strobe lights and cellphones, Moliter said. He estimated that 10 to 20 items were plugged in on one side and five to 15 items on the other side, although according to an interview transcript he said he did not know for sure.
The Coastguard has issued additional safety recommendations in the wake of accidents such as limiting the charging of lithium ion batteries and using power strips and extension cords.
Molillier also said there were two smokers in Nasi’s room and two in the galley, but he did not hear any alarm after a crew member picked him up. He wasn’t sure if they were wired together to make a sound but he said he would expect to hear them from where he was sleeping.
“One thing we never heard was any screaming or banging or anything from the boat, both when we were on it or when we were close,” Molitor said.
