The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
34 presumed dead in California dive boat fire
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. — No one likely escaped the flames that tore through a boat packed with scuba divers, with all 34 people sleeping below deck presumed dead during a Labor Day weekend expedition off the Southern California coast, authorities said Tuesday as they called off the search for survivors.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said no one has been found alive after the fire engulfed the Conception before dawn Monday. Flames blocked an escape hatch and a stairwell leading to the sleeping area crowded with passengers on a recreational scuba diving trip.
Ongoing investigation
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
According to the Coast Guard, the five crew members who survived were awake on the top deck when the fire broke out. They jumped into the ocean, retrieved a small boat and paddled 200 yards to safety.
The bodies of 20 victims have been recovered, and divers have seen between four and six others in the sunken wreckage, Brown said. Authorities are trying to stabilize the boat so divers can recover those remains. Most need to be identified by DNA analysis and officials are collecting samples from family members.
Among the victims
The sheriff says the majority of the victims appear to have been from Northern California, including Santa Cruz, San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Five members of one family perished. Susana Rosas posted on social media that her three daughters, their father and stepmother were on board.
Marine b iologist and veteran diver Kristy Finstad, 41, a co-owner of Worldwide Diving Adventures — the company leading the scuba tour — was also identified in a Facebook post by her brother, Brett Harmeling of Houston.
Below deck were a number of students from Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz, which posted a statement on its website that said “our hearts and thoughts are with the families of the victims and those missing, particularly those of our students and parents on board.”