'Complex investigation' expected into California boat fire that killed 34

Officials have vowed to find what sparked the inferno aboard the dive boat Conception that killed 34 people in waters off Southern California, but vital evidence may have gone down with the ship or drifted out to sea.

The main piece of evidence, the charred remains of the boat, rests on the sea floor in 18 metres of water. Other items that could provide valuable clues could have been carried away by tides or destroyed in the blaze, which burned so hot that DNA is needed to identify the dead.

"All of that will be a very large hurdle to overcome," said George Zeitler, a former Coast Guard inspector who runs his own marine investigation firm. "It will definitely make for a complex investigation."

High school students, a science teacher and his daughter, an adventurous marine biologist and a family of five celebrating a birthday were among the dead. Officials have recovered 33 bodies, with one missing.

Investigators will want to craft a timeline of the ship's final voyage from the moment it pulled away from a Santa Barbara dock early Aug. 31 until dispatchers received the frantic mayday call of the breathless captain overwhelmed by smoke, experts said.

They will look at the layout of the 23-metre vessel and whether the bunk room below deck was too cramped and had enough exits, review maintenance records and even study photos and videos from people who have been on the boat to look for valuable evidence.

"Our mission here while we're on scene is to determine how this happened, why it happened and what safety improvements are needed to prevent it from ever happening again," said Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board.

The fire is being treated as an accident and there's nothing to suggest anything "nefarious," said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Lt. Erik Raney.

'Vessels are mazes'

The Conception, owned by Truth Aquatics, had been chartered for three days by a commercial dive outfit based in Santa Cruz to explore the rugged Channel Islands, sometimes referred to as the Galapagos of North America, about 32 kilometres south of Santa Barbara.

The mayday call came at 3:15 a.m. Monday as passengers would have been sleeping while the boat was anchored just off Santa Cruz Island.

While initial details were limited, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said fire above deck blocked the one stairway and an emergency exit hatch where 33 passengers and one crew member were sleeping in their bunks. It's not known if any alarm sounded or what the people below deck may have done to try to escape.

"If an emergency exit is blocked due to fire and prevents one from escaping, it's a horrific situation," said Hendrik Keijer, an investigator with Robson Forensic who has captained cruise ships and operated cargo boats. "Vessels are mazes."

Something was ignited that spread a fire rapidly. It must have spread awfully quickly if nobody but the crew got out.- James Mercante, maritime investigator

The five survivors were all crew members, including the captain. They apparently jumped from the boat's bow, where the stairway led to the sleeping quarters, and swam to the stern, where they escaped in a dinghy and were taken aboard a nearby boat.

Attorney James Mercante, a former merchant marine officer who has defended thousands of maritime casualty cases, said it was unusual that only crew members survived, but that is likely because they were above deck.

Mercante said he would want to find out what the crew did upon being alerted to fight the fire and for how long before they abandoned ship.

"Something was ignited that spread a fire rapidly," Mercante said. "It must have spread awfully quickly if nobody but the crew got out."

Even with limited physical evidence, fire investigators should be able to pinpoint where the fire began, though finding the cause will be more difficult, Mercante said.

The leading causes of boat fires are, specifically, electrical problems and, generally, stupidity, said Walter Godfrey, who has investigated more than 2,000 boat fires in a career spanning a half-century.

By all accounts Godfrey has seen, Truth Aquatics had a good reputation and a clean record of service and was not the type of outfit to employ do-it-yourself electrical wiring.

Coast Guard records show fire safety violations on the Conception in 2014 and 2016 were quickly fixed. There were no deficiencies found in February or August 2018 inspections.

Search suspended, 34 presumed dead in California dive-boat fire

5 years ago

Duration 2:00

A team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has arrived in California to begin investigating the dive boat fire that is believed to have killed 34 people.

A fire on board can rapidly become a terrifying situation with no help nearby, experts said.

"It's very difficult to fight fires without outside help," Keijer said. "You're really on your own in most instances. It's up to the vessel's crew to fight fires. It's not like one can easily escape a vessel. You walk out of a building if a fire occurs on land. That's not as easy on vessels."

'Everyone's devastated'

A broken-hearted mother said on her Facebook page Tuesday that her three daughters, their father and his wife were among the deceased.

Susana Rosas of Stockton, Calif., posted that her three daughters Evan, Nicole and Angela Quitasol were with their father Michael Quitasol and stepmother Fernisa Sison.

Rosas's husband Chris said the sisters went on the trip to celebrate their dad's birthday.

"Everybody's devastated. It's a totally unexpected thing that happened," said Dominic Selga, Sison's ex-husband. "What caused the fire, that's the big question, that's what we all want to know."

Two Apple employees were among the victims.

Steve Salika, a 30-year employee with the company, his wife, Diana Adamic, daughter, Tia Salika, and Apple colleague Dan Garcia went on the trip, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

San Francisco's ABC affiliate, KGO, reported that 52-year-old hairdresser and photographer Lisa Fiedler from Mill Valley was a passenger on the boat, according to her mother Nancy Fiedler.

Scott Chan, a physics teacher at American High School in Fremont, also was on board with his daughter, said Brian Killgore, a spokesperson for the Fremont Unified School District.

ABC affiliate KNXV-TV in Phoenix reported that an Arizona couple, Patricia Beitzinger and Neal Baltz, were also on the trip.

"They went to heaven doing something they loved together," Neal's father, John Baltz, told the television station.

Also below decks was Kristy Finstad, a marine biologist and co-owner of Worldwide Diving Adventures in Santa Cruz, which chartered the boat. Finstad was leading the scuba tour.

Finstad knew the area well and had done hundreds of dives in the Channel Islands, where she first swam with her father as a toddler. She first dove with a tank off Mexico at age 9, according to her company's website.

Finstad was described to the Los Angeles Times by her brother, Brett Harmeling of Houston, as strong-willed and adventurous.

"If there was a one per cent chance of her making it, she would have made it," said Harmeling.