The 33 passengers aboard the Conception, a 75-foot commercial scuba diving vessel, were sleeping below deck when the blaze began on a Labor Day weekend excursion to the Channel Islands, a national park south of Santa Barbara. Diagrams of the boat showed that there was a single exit up to the galley, and the deaths were attributed to smoke inhalation.
Mr. Boylan told investigators that he had been awakened by the crew and was able to make a call to the Coast Guard before jumping overboard. Five of the six crew members escaped.
The boat, which was operated by Truth Aquatics, eventually sank north of Santa Cruz Island. It had been in operation since 1981.
“This tragedy forever altered the lives of so many families and loved ones, and it deeply affected members of the public who watched in horror,” said Kristi K. Johnson, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s Los Angeles field office.
Shortly after the blaze, a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board said the five members of the crew sleeping on the sun deck were unable to reach the galley because of fire at one end and thick smoke at the other.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/us/conception-boat-fire-manslaughter.html
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