Residents and divers from Monterey Bay communities struggled to process the loss of more than 30 people, some from the Santa Cruz area, believed dead in a Southern California dive boat fire over Labor Day weekend.
About 3:15 a.m. Monday, a mayday call reported the dive boat Conception was engulfed in flames. Shocks For Rear Hatch
While five crew members escaped, authorities believe all 33 passengers and one crew member had perished, Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester said at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said he believes most of the victims were from Santa Cruz, San Jose and elsewhere in the Bay Area where the charter excursion had been organized.
The city of Santa Cruz is located nearly 300 miles north of Santa Cruz Island where the charter boat caught fire in the Channel Islands area, a very popular area for diving.
"It's one of the choice spots to go," said Paul Beach, a diving instructor with the Aquarius Dive Shop's Scuba School in Monterey. "We go several times a year."
Santa Barbara-based Truth Aquatics, the company whose boat Conception burned in the fire, is a popular provider of diving experiences in that area.
Beach has been on Conception himself and planned trips through Truth Aquatics as well.
"They run a pretty tight show," Beach said. "Their boats are good and clean and their crews are top-notch. They're a very legit operation and their equipment's well-crewed and well-maintained."
Even before this accident, safety's at the forefront for all operations, he said.
"Truth (Aquatics) and everybody in the dive industry — we're very, very conscious of safety," Beach said. "Safety first in all operations. I would be very surprised if there was anything Truth had that wasn't up to standard."
In light of the incident, many dive groups began changing their social media photos to an image of the red and white dive flag with a black band across it.
Others flooded Truth Aquatics' Facebook page with condolences and messages of support.
As of Tuesday morning, 20 victims' bodies have been recovered and brought to the county coroner, Santa Barbara Sheriff Brown said. Eleven were female and nine were male.
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At the time of the incident, the boat was carrying 39 people in total, 33 passengers and six crew members. Five of the crew members escaped the fire aboard the Conception and were picked up by a Good Samaritan boat known as the Grape Escape.
He said 14 people remain unaccounted for.
Brown was asked at the news conference whether it appeared the victims had been trapped in their sleeping area below deck.
“That does appear to be exactly what happened,” he said.
Brown said there was a stairwell to get up and down the main entry way and an escape hatch. It would appear that the fire had blocked both of those, he said.
Brown said there was no indication that anyone who was below deck at the time of the fire had survived the tragedy, including one crew member sleeping below deck as well at the time of the fire.
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Worldwide Diving Adventures co-owner Kristina Finstad, who goes by Kristy, is a dive instructor and was on Conception, said Brett Harmeling, her brother. Now he’s waiting for answers about what happened to her.
“There's nothing I can do,” Harmeling told Ventura County Star Monday afternoon.
In a brief interview, Harmeling said he was supposed to go on the trip with his sister.
“I was fortunate I wasn't able to,” Harmeling said.
Finstad had lived in Santa Cruz with her husband, and former neighbors struggled to process the news on Tuesday.
Luana Pedota said she lived just one building away from Finstad and her husband at an apartment complex for years.
“They were very nice people,” Pedota said, adding that they were very outgoing and “outdoorsy.” Finstad was part of the homeowners association, and at one point, Finstad helped get bike racks for the apartment complex.
About four years ago, the couple had a going away party in the neighborhood as they left to live on a boat named the “Black Pearl,” Pedota said.
Another neighbor, Martha McNulty said Finstad helped her sell her dry suit after McNulty stopped diving and also helped with the redesign of a garden in the area.
“They were so close and their life dreams were in sync,” McNulty said of Finstad and her husband.
Students and parents from a Santa Cruz school were also among those lost.
In a statement Tuesday, Pacific Collegiate School said it was “saddened by the tragic sinking of the diving vessel Conception over the weekend.”
The elite Santa Cruz charter school serves grades seven through 12 and had just under 550 students last year, according to its California Department of Education online profile.
While it was not a school-sponsored trip, officials did say their hearts were with the families of the victims and those still missing, “particularly those of our students and parents on board.”
They referred inquiries to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and said the school website will be updated with further statements.
“Right now our priority as a school community is to support our students, staff, and families in the wake of this tragedy,” the school said in a statement.
The school is working with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and Santa Cruz County Mental Health Services to activate the School Emergency Response Protocol in order to provide resources and additional support to the school community.
Officials asked to respect the need to gather as a community, to respond privately, to care for our students and families.
In a statement, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) said his "deepest sympathies go out to those affected by the Santa Cruz Island boat fire."
He was in touch with federal officials, including the U.S. Coast Guard, and was working to ensure all federal resources are available for the National Transportation Safety Board investigation.
The U.S. Coast Guard has set up a Family Center for those who lost loved ones. Concerned family members are being asked to call 833-688-5551.
The Ventura County Star contributed to this report.
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