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Tuesday 3 sepTember 2019
8 killed in deadly California boat fire; dozens missing

Continued from Front “When we looked out, the
other boat was totally en-
“It’s upside down in rela- gulfed in flames, from stem
tively shallow water with to stern,” Hansen said, esti-
receding tides that are mating it was no more than
moving it around,” Santa 100 yards from his craft. “I
Barbara County Sheriff Bill could see the fire coming
Brown said. through holes on the side of
The fire broke out aboard the boat. There were these
the vessel Conception explosions every few beats.
around 3 a.m. off Santa You can’t prepare yourself
Cruz Island, part of a chain for that. It was horrendous.
of rugged wind-swept isles “The fire was too big, there
that form Channel Islands was absolutely nothing we
National Park in the Pacific could do,” he added.
Ocean west of Los Ange- Hansen said two of the
les. crew members went back
The five crew members toward the Conception
who escaped were res- looking for survivors but
cued by a good Samaritan found no one. Asked at
boat called The Grape Es- a news conference if the
cape that was anchored crew tried to help others
nearby. Two had minor in- aboard, Rochester told re-
juries, Coast Guard Petty porters, “I don’t have any Whale watchers board a boat outside of the Truth Aquatics office in Santa Barbara, Calif., as
Officer Mark Barney said. additional information.” people nearby await to hear news about a diving boat that caught fire and sank on Monday,
The Grape Escape’s own- She said the 75-foot (20-me- Sept. 2, 2019.
ers, Bob and Shirley Han- ter) commercial scuba div- Associated Press
sen, told The New York ing vessel was anchored weekend cruise to the sleeping below deck in the “When you see the boats
Times they were asleep in Platts Harbor, about 20 Channel Islands when the middle of the night and they are always immacu-
when they heard pound- yards (18 meters) off the fire erupted. there was a quick-moving late,” he said. “I wouldn’t
ing on the side of their 60- northern coast of Santa “At 3:15 this morning the fire. hesitate at all to go on one
foot (18-meter) fishing ves- Cruz Island, when the fire Coast Guard overheard a “You couldn’t ask for a again. Of all the boat com-
sel about 3:30 a.m. and ignited. mayday call. The call was worse situation,” the sheriff panies, that would be one
discovered the frightened The Conception, based in garbled, it was not that said. of the ones I wouldn’t think
crew members. They told Santa Barbara Harbor on clear, but we were able The Conception was char- this would happen to.”
the couple they fled when the mainland, was on the to get some information tered by Worldwide Diving His wife said Truth Adven-
the fire grew out of control. final day of a Labor Day out of it to send vessels on Adventures, which says on tures crews have always
scene,” Barney said. its website that it has been been meticulous in going
Rochester said that call in- taking divers on such ex- over safety instructions at
dicated the boat was al- peditions since the 1970s. It the beginning of every trip
ready fully ablaze. was owned and operated she’s been on.
After hearing the mayday by Truth Aquatics, a Santa “They tell you where the
radio call, Capt. Paul Ama- Barbara-based company life jackets are, how to
ral of the vessel assistance founded in 1974. put them on, the points
company TowBoatUS said Coast Guard records show of egress, the exits, where
a fast boat sped from Ven- inspections of the Concep- the fire extinguishers are,
tura Harbor some 30 miles tion conducted last Feb- on every single trip,” said
(48 kilometers) to the island. ruary and in August 2018 Schuller, who goes on div-
“We launched that boat found no deficiencies. Ear- ing expeditions often with
knowing that the vessel lier inspections found some her husband. “They are the
was on fire, lots of people safety violations related to best, the absolute best.”
aboard,” he told The Asso- fire safety. Both said the sleeping area
ciated Press. A 2016 inspection resulted is comfortable but small,
A Coast Guard helicop- in owners replacing the however, with bunk beds
ter and a fireboat were heat detector in the gal- stacked next to one an-
on scene when he ar- ley and one in 2014 cited a other in a tight space on
rived around 5 a.m. He leaky fire hose. the vessel’s lowest deck.
first searched the water Records show all safety Coming up to the top deck
and shoreline, then turned violations from the last five to get off requires navigat-
back to the Conception, years were quickly ad- ing a narrow stairway with
which was adrift and go- dressed by the boat’s own- only one exit. If the fire was
ing aground. Amaral said ers. fast-moving, Reid said, it’s
he was able to attach a Dave Reid, who runs an un- very likely divers couldn’t
line and pull it back into derwater camera manu- escape and the crew
deeper water where the facturing business with his couldn’t get to them.
fireboats could reach it. wife, Terry Schuller, and “If there was an explosion in
Brown said the elements of who has traveled on the the engine area that could
the tragedy were daunt- Conception and two oth- have gone right into the
ing for rescuers: The boat er boats in Truth Aquatics’ sleeping area,” Reid said.
was in a remote location fleet, said he considered all The National Transportation
with limited firefighting ca- three among the best and Safety Board dispatched a
pabilities, passengers were safest dive-boats around. team to investigate.q