SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the fire aboard a diving boat near a Southern California island that is believed to have killed 34 people (all times local):
5:20 p.m.
A Northern California school district says a high school physics teacher and child were on board a dive boat that caught fire off the Southern California coast.
Fremont Unified School District spokesman Ken Blackstone said Tuesday that Scott Chan taught at American High in Fremont and was well-liked.
The district originally said his wife was with him but later said they learned she was not on board. Blackstone says Chan was with one of his children, but he was unsure if it was his son or daughter.
Authorities say 34 people are missing and presumed dead after the vessel sunk near Santa Cruz Island early Monday.
ABC affiliate KNXV-TV in Phoenix reports that an Arizona couple, Patricia Beitzinger and Neal Baltz, were also on board, according to Baltzs father.
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3:50 p.m.
A team from the National Transportation Safety Board has arrived in California to begin investigating a dive boat fire that is believed to have killed 34 people.
Board member Jennifer Homendy says Tuesday that shes “100% confident” investigators will find the cause of the fire aboard the vessel Conception, which caught fire before dawn Monday and sank near Santa Cruz Island off the Southern California coast.
Only five crew members on the boat escaped. Authorities called off a search for other survivors Tuesday.
The NTSB plans to stay at the scene for up to 10 days and will look into safety measures aboard the boat, such as whether it had fire extinguishers, and will interview survivors, first responders, divers and others.
The agency also is asking people who might have photos or videos that could help in the investigation to email them to the board.
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2:45 p.m.
A California state senator says the boat fire that killed dozens of people has been a “blow to the gut” for a community that prizes the ocean.
Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, who represents Santa Barbara, said the tragedy has the whole community “heartbroken.”
Authorities say a boat owned by Santa Barbara-based Truth Aquatics caught fire and sunk early Monday morning. At least 34 passengers on board are presumed dead. Recovery efforts continued Tuesday as authorities called off a search for survivors.
Jackson said the company was “considered top drawer,” and said the boat was in “exceptionally good condition.” She said the owner is “highly regarded and respected throughout the community,” making it difficult to explain what happened.
Jackson said she will be paying close attention to the investigation.
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1:35 p.m.
A Catholic priest working at the center set up for relatives of people missing and presumed dead in the California scuba diving boat fire says hes spoken with 15 to 20 relatives of those who were aboard.
Father Pedro Lopez of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Santa Barbara said Tuesday that he and other clergy members are trying to comfort the relatives and make sure they dont spend time alone.
Lopez says “its just hard for them to process all of this.”
He says some of the relatives who have visited the center have several family members missing.
The boat named the Conception caught fire before dawn Monday. Thirty three passengers and one crew member were sleeping below decks and are presumed dead.
Five crew members who were on the deck of the boat when the fire broke out escaped.
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1 p.m.
A relative says five people from one Northern California family are missing and presumed dead after the scuba diving boat they were on burned near a Southern California island.
Susana Rosas posted on social media Tuesday that her three daughters, their father and stepmother were on board the Conception when it caught fire before dawn Monday morning.
Thirty four people are presumed dead in the fire and the search for survivors has been suspended. Five of the boats six crew members escaped.
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11:45 a.m.
The initial critical moments of the deadly fire that engulfed a dive boat off Southern California are still under investigation.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said Tuesday there were apparently several mayday radio calls before dawn Monday.
Brown says the first call may have come from the burning vessel Conception, on which 34 people in below-decks accommodations are believed to have died.
He says subsequent calls may have come from a nearby boat that picked up five crew members who survived.
In one radio exchange, a Coast Guard radio communicator asked if people were locked inside the boat and whether the person could get back aboard the Conception and unlock doors. The replies to those questions are not on the recording.
Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester says there are no door locks in berthing spaces on such vessels.
Rochester says she interviewed the radio communicator and says he was actually trying to ask for information during a confusing situation.
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11:20 a.m.
A Northern California school has confirmed that it had students and parents on board a dive boat that caught fire near an island off the Southern California coast.
Thirty four people are presumed dead in the fire and the search has been suspended.
Maria C. Reitano is the head of Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz and declined Tuesday to say how many students or parents were on board the Conception. She says the trip was not school-sponsored.
In a statement posted on its website, the school says “our hearts and thoughts are with the families of the victims and those yet missing, particularly those of our students and parents on board.”
Reitano and the school asked for privacy.
Pacific Collegiate School is a college preparation public charter school for grades 7-12.
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11:15 a.m.
Authorities say the people killed when fire engulfed a dive boat off Southern California will have to be identified through DNA.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said Tuesday the fire that gutted the vessel Conception early Monday was extraordinarily hot.
The sheriff says most victims appear to have been from Northern California, including Santa Cruz, San Jose and the San Francisco Bay region.
Brown says he doesnt have exact information on the victims ages but cited anecdotal reports of a 17-year-old and some adults in their 60s.
All 34 people who were below decks when the fire erupted are believed to have died. Remains of 20 have been recovered and as many as six more bodies have been seen still in the submerged wreck.
Five crew members were rescued by a nearby boat after jumping in the ocean.
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10:55 a.m.
Authorities say crew members who escaped from the dive boat that burned near a Southern California island have submitted written statements to officials.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown declined to disclose details of that they said because investigation is ongoing into the fire that officials presume killed 33 scuba dive trip passengers and one crew member.
Brown also says the surviving crew members will be interviewed on Tuesday.
He says theres no indication that the fire was preceded by an explosion.
Brown says explosions a witness on another boat reported happened after the fire was underway and could have been scuba or propane tanks exploding.
A search for survivors has been suspended.
— This corrects that the sheriff said scuba tanks not oxygen tanks.
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10:40 a.m.
Officials say theres no indication anyone who was below decks escaped when fire erupted on a dive boat off Southern California.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown announced the news Tuesday as the Coast Guard and other agencies suspended the search for additional survivors beyond the five crew members who were rescued early Monday morning off Santa Cruz Island.
There were believed to be 33 passengers and one crew member sleeping below decks at the time. They are presumed dead.
Brown says it appears that the berthing quarters exit and an escape hatch were blocked by fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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10:16 a.m.
Thirty four people are presumed dead in the California dive boat fire and the search has been suspended.
Santa Barbara County Bill Brown said Tuesday that the bodies of 20 victims have been recovered and divers have seen between and four and six others in the sunken wreckageRead More – Source
