Cali boat fire tragedy

3Roosters

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It will be interesting following the investigation of this tragic event! Lawsuits to come I am sure. It will be interesting to hear if something criminal happened or if it was just a tragic accident. It will also be interesting to hear why only the crew(except for one) were the only ones who were able to abandon ship. Did they try to or were they able to save anyone below deck? Why or why not?
Sad deal for the 30 plus people who lost their lives.
 


sl1000794

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I dived off the coast of California for 20 years (1992 - 2012), but I never went on a live-aboard dive trip. Many of the members of the dive club I belonged to did and many went on the Conception. If this had happened 4 weeks from now (the opening weekend of bug [lobster] season) I'm sure some club members would have been aboard. What I say from here on is my speculation so take it in that vein.

It will be interesting following the investigation of this tragic event! Lawsuits to come I am sure. It will be interesting to hear if something criminal happened or if it was just a tragic accident.

1. My guess is that it was a tragic accident. The boat passed Coast Guard standards at it's last scheduled annual inspection. The flames seem to have spread so rapidly that I think that there must have been a propane leak in the kitchen above the sleeping quarters. Propane is heavier than air and could have collected on the floor of the sleeping area and when ignited somehow, there was a huge fireball that killed the sleepers thru lack of O2 or smoke inhalation.

It will also be interesting to hear why only the crew(except for one) were the only ones who were able to abandon ship.

2. The crew's quarters were on the third (top) deck of the boat. It would be the most uncomfortable place to sleep with having to put up with wind waves and swells rocking the boat. Also Truth Aquatics may have had a policy to not let the crew sleep where the passengers slept. The sleeping quarters were accessed from a narrow stairway at the back of the boat and had an emergency exit hatch at the front of the quarters. A boat would never have a stairway down into the lowest level on the front of the boat where it could possibly take on water in a situation when heading into big seas. Not safe at all.

Did they try to or were they able to save anyone below deck? Why or why not?

3. When we hear statements from the crew (if we do) I'm sure we will find out that they did all that was humanly possible to save the sleeping passengers. The crew obviously didn't have much time since more than one crew member was just in their underwear. The water temperature of the ocean off the California coast is from 50 to mid 60 degrees depending on time of year and can be colder at depth. SCUBA diving is minimum 1/4" wetsuit or more preferably, drysuit diving. Jumping into the water in your underwear is a last resort.

Sad deal for the 30 plus people who lost their lives.

4. Very sad!
 
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Bfishn

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The stairs and escape hatch were both at the front right of the boat and both took you up to the galley/kitchen. The kitchen/galley is what was on fire so there was no escape, cant imagine why there wasn't an escape hatch at the back, piss poor design. How does that even get approved?

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dean nelson

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Seems like having the escape hatch in the stairwell so close to each other is not necessarily the greatest idea. Situation like this you easily could see if one's taken out the other would be inoperable quite quickly as well. You would think they would be required to have one more aft in the sleeping area.
 
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3Roosters

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just in. died of smoke inhalation versus burned to death...
AAxY32u.img
[h=1]The Latest: Smoke inhalation likely killed boat fire victims[/h]
 

sl1000794

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Seems like having the escape hatch in the stairwell so close to each other is not necessarily the greatest idea. Situation like this you easily could see if one's taken out the other would be inoperable quite quickly as well. You would think they would be required to have one more aft in the sleeping area.

The bulkhead in the aft of the bunk area divides the sleeping quarters from the engine room. That would never be penetrated in order to be used as a means of escape. Whether there was a hatch thru the ceiling onto the dive deck above or not I have not been able to find out for certain.

The Conception was capable of carrying 1,600 gal. of diesel fuel for the 2 Diesel engines and the diesel generator. It also had an inflatable tender/chase boat with a gas engine, so gasoline was also carried on board. The kitchen cooking facilities were propane fueled so extra propane was probably also onboard. Of all three fuels to cause a fire like this to occur, it makes the most sense to me that there was a propane leak of some sort.

Here is a layout of the bunk level and lower showers that I got from the Truth Aquatics website.

Conception-bunk-layout.jpg
 

dean nelson

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The bulkhead in the aft of the bunk area divides the sleeping quarters from the engine room. That would never be penetrated in order to be used as a means of escape. Whether there was a hatch thru the ceiling onto the dive deck above or not I have not been able to find out for certain.

The Conception was capable of carrying 1,600 gal. of diesel fuel for the 2 Diesel engines and the diesel generator. It also had an inflatable tender/chase boat with a gas engine, so gasoline was also carried on board. The kitchen cooking facilities were propane fueled so extra propane was probably also onboard. Of all three fuels to cause a fire like this to occur, it makes the most sense to me that there was a propane leak of some sort.

Here is a layout of the bunk level and lower showers that I got from the Truth Aquatics website.

130489922_1762818393873910_8408050672342732124_o.jpg
yeah read in interview with the former owner of true aquatics and the person who designed and built the boat that made it sound like the first layout seen on here is inaccurate on its placement of the escape hatch. He talked about it being in the alft end of the bunk room coming up about four feet from the door in the main area on the main deck. A lot of talk seeming to originate from some of the crew members that the fire may have started in an area where everybody plugged in their phones and cameras to be recharged. Possibly being a lithium ion fire but I still would be very curious how such a thing could spread so rapidly without the addition of something highly flammable like propane.
 

sl1000794

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[h=1]California boat fire: Conception wasn’t built to charge dozens of phones, batteries and cameras. Did this cause the blaze?[/h]https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-19/the-conception-wasnt-built-to-power-the-personal-electronics-revolution-could-this-have-caused-fire
 


sl1000794

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The Dive Club I belong to:

San Jose Flipper Dippers Helping Families Affected by the Conception Disaster


The San Jose Flipper Dippers have made a $600 donation to DAN (Divers Alert Network) in an effort to help the families of the Conception dive boat fire victims.


The funds collected will be distributed equally among the families of the victims. Families who lost more than one member will receive a share for each.


All donations are fully tax-deductible, and 100% of the money raised will go directly to the families.


If you would like to donate, please visit:


https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/theconception/

DAN is a huge organization so hopefully they can raise money to help the families that lost loved ones!
 

sl1000794

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From Friday's Santa Barbara Independent:

[h=1]The Conception Fire: Solving the Puzzle[/h]The Final Minutes Aboard the Fatal Dive Boat and How to Prevent Future Disasters

https://www.independent.com/2020/05...RRoXIUuddVX_jn1fBX-NivWMRO1V2gxW9snGHr4ma01mI

By Heather Sawdon
Fri May 01, 2020 | 10:14am




After the Conception boat fire killed my sister, Kristy Finstad, and 32 divers and one crew woman, I was haunted, wondering if she died trapped, trying to escape. For months I awakened at night, choking for air in my nightmares. I needed to solve the puzzle of what really happened. What caused the fire? Why were they unable to escape from the lower bunkroom? How could this be prevented? I recently discovered the missing pieces.
It’s been eight months since the fire aboard the Conception. It occurred over Labor Day weekend 2019, at Santa Cruz Island. Kristy and her husband, Dan Chua, owned WDA (Worldwide Diving Adventures), the ill-fated charter master. WDA is a family business started by our father, Bill Finstad, half a century ago. The divers had signed up for what was expected to be an exciting three-day dive trip to Channel Islands National Park aboard Truth Aquatics’ well-respected dive boat.
After Kristy’s death, when her Toyota was retrieved from Santa Barbara Harbor’s parking lot, the CD player automatically engaged with the last song she played. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” filled the truck’s cab. It was prophetically bone-chilling. My tears streamed from the depths of my grief. My sister was gone.
[h=2]The Cause[/h]I blame lithium-ion batteries. The crewman who discovered the fire heard the odd “caaw” sounds made by burning batteries. The 17 night divers had wet dive lights to charge, just five hours before the fire. Some had brought their own power strips because there were so many batteries to charge.
Given the needs of the 39 people on board, a spaghetti of power strips with charging cell phones, tablets, cameras with spare batteries, laptops, and dive lights would have been on the back two tables. Last year a crewmember found a smoldering underwater light on the Vision and threw it overboard before it ignited.
Boat fires often start in engine compartments or are traced to electrical sources, but two crewmen found no fire in the engine room, and they successfully released the dinghy using electricity.
I researched how one faulty battery could start a killer fire chain reaction. A non-certified battery, like a cheap spare, can overheat from moisture exposure or low-quality insulation layers between the cells, causing a runaway thermal reaction (932 degrees F in seconds). Once the highly reactive lithium ignites, it cannot be put out with fire extinguishers, which can disperse the lithium, spreading the fire. Using water to put out a lithium fire is debated, since it re-ignites, but this method is approved for airlines.
The Federal Aviation Administration has documented that lithium-ion batteries have brought down aircraft: UPS Flight 6 and Asiana Flight 991. Why not a boat? Between 1991 and 2019, the FAA counted 241 incidents involving overheated lithium-ion batteries in airports or onboard aircraft. YouTube is replete with videos of explosions. At first, I didn’t believe a battery could cause such a rapid killer fire, until I found evidence.
The fire ignited, expanded, and ended 34 lives in six to ten minutes in a flash-over of flames, according to fire inspectors. A crewman had checked the galley at 2:35 a.m. The mayday call was received at 3:15 a.m. Just minutes before that, the same crewman heard something like a falling chair. He went to the back of the upper deck and discovered the already intense conflagration engulfing the aft entrance to the salon. He heard odd “caaw” sounds. He ran back into the wheelhouse shouting “Fire!” The captain’s mayday call ended with a haunting gasping: “I can’t breathe.”
[h=2]No Escape[/h]Kristy slept in the first bunk located under the stairs. The stairs were not blocked by fire initially, and Kristy is the type of courageous person who would have wrapped up in blankets to run through flames and retreat into the ocean. The crew saw thick black smoke but no fire at the front of the galley where the stairs come up. When they attempted a rescue through the forward galley window, they said it was warm but not hot to the touch.
Kristy knew exactly where the fire escape hatch was located on the aft end of the bunk room. I’ve crawled through it with her before. Did she suffer trying to escape?
Ghost shadow images on the bunk mattresses of the Conception’s burned hull tell the story how they died in their sleep, as the deadly gasses blanketed them. They never left their bunks in attempted escape.
Kristy’s coroner report states the cause of her death was smoke inhalation, in minutes. There were two smoke/carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in the bunk room, tested with fresh batteries just two months earlier. Why didn’t they wake the passengers?
I believe they had already passed out from carbon monoxide poisoning. Unlike smoke, which rises, CO quickly diffuses into surrounding air. CO would have been sucked down the stairs to the bunk room, where the air-conditioning intake vents draw air down from the galley. The poisonous CO would have been blown directly onto each sleeping face.
Carbon monoxide sneaks in undetected as a clear, odorless, and tasteless gas, causing sleeping victims to be rendered unconscious. They die before experiencing symptoms or discomfort. My nightmares ended with my sister falling into a deeper sleep as the poisons ushered her to her death.
[h=2]Solving the Puzzle[/h]When the FBI investigation meeting for family of the victims was cancelled due to COVID, I ordered the forensic toxicology report. It showed Kristy’s CO level to be greater than 75 percent saturation. Her cyanide was up to two micrograms per milliliter. These levels are exceptionally high, causing death in a couple minutes. But four to 15 minutes pass with carbon monoxide levels above 400 parts per million before a CO detector reaches the threshold to go off. Furthermore, the Coast Guard does not even require CO detectors.
My stomach churned reading the coroner’s report describing my sister’s scorched body. It proves she was sleeping on her right side when death occurred. Her right arm still held parts of her nightshirt, while her left side was charred beyond recognition. Death had already occurred by the time fire ravaged her lifeless body. Except for her right side, most of her body was covered in raw 4th-degree burns. She never even rolled over. May this bring comfort for everyone to know they passed away while resting in peace.
In my opinion, a plan outlined by Glen Fritzler, Truth Aquatics’ owner, to install fireproof charging cabinets is the best solution to a disaster such as this. They would automatically close and lock when sensing heat, release an internal fire extinguisher, set off a centralized alarm system, and vent the fumes safely outside.
The Small Passenger Vessel Safety Act, a bill for new safety measures in the aftermath of the Conception tragedy, will be voted on in May when the COVID delay is lifted. I hope the bill will be modified to reflect this evidence before this tragedy is repeated. It won’t bring my sister and the 33 others back, but it just might keep others alive.
 

sl1000794

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Update on dive boat Conception fire.

Charges Loom for Conception Fire Deaths.

Court documents say criminal charges are imminent after 34 people were killed aboard the dive boat Conception last year.

A year after the tragedy Capt. Jerry Boylan was briefed on the evidence prosecutors have against him. Prosecutors would only need to prove simple negligence or misconduct on the part of the captain or crew. A conviction carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Since the fire, the Coastguard has issued additional safety recommendations such as the unsupervised charging of lithium batteries and the use of extension cords and power strips.

https://www.ksby.com/news/local-new...Arise+Over+Dive+Depth+Record&utm_content=HTML
90




Posted at 4:34 AM, Sep 02, 2020
and last updated 10:08 PM, Sep 02, 2020
Nine days after the scuba boat Conception went down in flames with 34 people trapped below deck in one of the deadliest disasters in California maritime history, a federal grand jury began looking into whether a crime had been committed.
Now, a year after the Sept. 2 tragedy, investigations into the cause of the pre-dawn blaze and whether someone is to blame are still ongoing, though court documents say criminal charges are imminent.
The captain of the boat, who could face an unusual federal manslaughter charge, was briefed in July on the evidence prosecutors have against him. It's the type of meeting often used to persuade a suspect to plead guilty, lawyers for the boat's owners said last week in a related lawsuit.
An attorney for Capt. Jerry Boylan and federal prosecutors declined to comment on the disclosure.
The Conception was carrying 33 passengers on a Labor Day weekend scuba diving expedition near an island off Santa Barbara. The fire broke out while passengers were sleeping and quickly swept through the vessel.
Boylan and four crew members barely escaped after trying in vain to save the others, authorities said. Boylan made a mayday call at 3:14 a.m. saying, “I can't breathe,” before abandoning ship.
All the passengers and one crew member perished in the bunk room beneath deck. It's unclear if any had time to try to escape. Coroners said they died from smoke inhalation before their bodies were burned.
All six crew members were asleep when the fire broke out, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. If that's the case, it would violate Coast Guard regulations requiring a roving watch.
“The lack of a night watch was an outrageous oversight,” said Jeffrey Goodman, a lawyer representing family members of nine victims.
Legal experts said prosecutors are likely trying to apply an obscure federal law known as the Seaman’s Manslaughter Statute that predates the Civil War and was enacted to punish negligent captains, engineers and pilots for deadly steamboat accidents that killed thousands.
Prosecutors would only need to prove simple negligence or misconduct on the part of the captain or crew. Conviction carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
The lawsuit filings also revealed that the company that operated the boat and the couple who own it, Glen and Dana Fritzler, have offered to settle the lawsuit with dozens of victims' family members.
Goodman said settlement discussions were preliminary and attorneys for victims were still trying to find the cause of the fire and the financial resources of the boat owners.
Families of 32 of the victims and one surviving crew member have filed claims against the Fritzler family trust and the boat company, Truth Aquatics. The Fritzlers and the company in turn have filed a legal claim to shield them from damages under a maritime law that limits liability for vessel owners.
Attorney Russell Brown, who represents the Fritzlers and made the disclosures in court papers, did not return a phone call or email seeking comment.
Brown said in a report filed Friday that a federal grand jury in Los Angeles issued subpoenas to the Fritzlers and Truth Aquatics Inc. on Sept. 11 and 18 seeking records on the boat and communications related to its safety operation.
He also revealed that Boylan met with prosecutors in a meeting held routinely when “the government has concluded that it has sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges." He said "an indictment, or indictments, will be forthcoming.”
Federal investigators are still working to complete what’s known as an origin and cause report, which will rule if the fire was accidental, incendiary — meaning it was deliberately set — or undetermined. Authorities have said there is no indication the fire was arson.
The five-person NTSB will hold an Oct. 20 meeting to vote on the safety investigation’s findings, as well as the blaze’s probable cause and any potential recommendations.
An NTSB official has cited how difficult it was to reach an escape hatch in the Conception’s bunk room, a design that has routinely met regulations. Coast Guard records show the boat had passed its two most recent safety inspections without violations.
The NTSB is a federal regulatory agency but it has no enforcement powers and can only submit its suggestions to bodies like the Federal Aviation Administration or the Coast Guard, which have repeatedly rejected some of the board’s safety recommendations.
The Coast Guard has issued additional safety recommendations in the wake of the tragedy, such as limiting the unsupervised charging of lithium-ion batteries and the use of power strips and extension cords.


 


Allen

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While I understand the enormity of this tragedy, I am at a loss in comprehending how a skipper can be brought up on charges if the boat had been inspected (and passed) on a regular basis. Did they hide something from the inspectors (seems like they allude to it with use of extension cords, etc).

Anyway, I personally don't like the idea of holding someone criminally responsible for such a tragic event after they had passed the necessary regulatory inspections. Seems like a horrible precedent.

- - - Updated - - -

Needless to say, I'd be surprised if the skipper pleads guilty.
 

sl1000794

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While I understand the enormity of this tragedy, I am at a loss in comprehending how a skipper can be brought up on charges if the boat had been inspected (and passed) on a regular basis. Did they hide something from the inspectors (seems like they allude to it with use of extension cords, etc).

Anyway, I personally don't like the idea of holding someone criminally responsible for such a tragic event after they had passed the necessary regulatory inspections. Seems like a horrible precedent.

- - - Updated - - -

Needless to say, I'd be surprised if the skipper pleads guilty.

I think this will be the heart of their argument: All six crew members were asleep when the fire broke out, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. If that's the case, it would violate Coast Guard regulations requiring a roving watch.
“The lack of a night watch was an outrageous oversight,” said Jeffrey Goodman, a lawyer representing family members of nine victims.
 

Allen

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Ah, now that would be something I must have glossed over, because that is indeed a gross error in judgment.
 


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