Coast Guard officials have recovered the bodies of 33 people who died in a massive fire aboard the Conception that started as the 75-foot vessel was anchored off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Labor Day. One person is still missing, authorities said Wednesday.

Thirty-nine people were on board for a three-day scuba diving trip when the fire broke out. Five crew members jumped overboard and paddled to a nearby vessel. They survived. The passengers and a sixth crew member were asleep below deck and were likely trapped by the flames, officials said.

Officials had recovered the remains of 20 people — 11 female and 9 male — as of Tuesday. Thirteen more bodies were found as of Wednesday, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr Matt Kroll said.

The names of those who perished in the fire off the Ventura County coast have not been released by officials.


FBI divers prepare to depart Santa Barbara Harbor on Wednesday morning for the site where the dive boat Conception burned. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

On Wednesday morning, about a dozen divers with the FBI gathered at Santa Barbara Harbor to search for the last victim. They will join divers from other government agencies to comb the area where the Conception sank days earlier, said Santa Barbara County sheriff’s Lt. Brian Olmstead.

About three dozen divers have participated in search efforts over the last few days. They go out for hours at a time and return “emotionally drained,” Olmstead said.

“Our priority is trying to find the last victim and also items that would be of interest to find out what happened,” he said. “You want to bring closure to the families.”


The Conception is submerged in 60 to 65 feet of water. Divers are taking digital images of the wreckage before the vessel is raised and can be examined, National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy said Wednesday.

Homendy described the investigation as lengthy and detailed. Investigators interviewed four crew members and Glen Fritzler, the owner of Truth Aquatics, the company that operated the Conception. More interviews will be conducted with first responders, additional Truth Aquatics employees and the owners of the Grape Escape — the fishing boat that helped rescue crew members.

“I characterize these as very cooperative,” she said of Wednesday’s interviews.

She also met for two hours with the families of those who died in the fire.


“They’re the most important people to us right now,” Homendy said.

On the docks nearby, Homendy, Coast Guard Capt. Jason Neubauer and investigators toured the Conception’s sister ship, the 80-foot Vision, also owned by Truth Aquatics.

Though slightly larger than the Conception, the Vision has a similar layout. Single and double bunks are stacked two and three high in the boat’s sleeping quarters below deck. A wooden staircase leads from the sleeping area up to the galley. Authorities say that exits on the Conception — along with an escape hatch that opens up near the dive deck on the boat — were blocked by fire. NTSB shared a photo on Twitter earlier of Homendy and Neubauer inside a room surrounded by bunk beds, similar to the space where Conception passengers would have been when the fire occurred.


“I wanted to lay eyes on the vessel and just get a sense of the layout,” Homendy said.

A day earlier, roughly a dozen agents with the FBI’s Evidence Response Team also boarded the Vision to snap photographs of the vessel’s interior, decks, staircases and entryways. They pinned sheets of paper with block letters beside some parts of the boat— an “A” next to a life preserver, a “B” next to the door to the top deck — and took pictures from several angles.

National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy looks over the Vision, the sister ship to the Conception. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Neubauer said that four of the five crew members were tested for alcohol and, according to Homendy, tested negative. Drug testing results are still being processed.


NTSB is awaiting documentation pertaining to the vessel maintenance and training records, manuals, inspection reports, 911 recordings and licensing information. Neubauer said the Coast Guard and Truth Aquatics reached “a mutual decision” not to operate the company’s other two vessels during the initial investigation.

Neubauer said that although some passenger vessels were required to have a sprinkler system installed, federal regulations did not require that for the Conception.

Homendy said the federal agency started its investigation Tuesday morning into the cause of the fire, just after Coast Guard crews announced they would stop searching for passengers who were trapped below deck when the fire broke out. The rescuers have said there are no signs of additional survivors.

“This was a terrible tragedy,” Homendy said Tuesday. “I cannot imagine what the families are going through.”


The team of 16 investigators, which specialize in engineering, operations, survival factors and fire prevention, will be on site for seven to 10 days. They will work closely with the Coast Guard and first responders, Homendy said.

The NTSB could release a preliminary report within 10 days of the incident, but a final report could take two years. The agency plans to update the public Thursday.

Tyler McCurdy, supervisor of the FBI’s Ventura office, said that the FBI’s Evidence Response Team would gather evidence on behalf of the NTSB and the sheriff’s office. He would not specify the type of evidence they were collecting.


During the investigation, NTSB will interview the five crew members who survived the fire, first responders and the companies involved in the diving trip. Investigators will examine crew training, safety records, survival factors and whether the boat had life jackets and other safety gear.

Homendy said she was “100% confident” that investigators would determine the cause of the fire.

If investigators uncover safety issues, the agency will issue immediate recommendations to protect the public from similar accidents, she said.

1 / 41 The burned hulk of the Conception is brought to the surface by a salvage team off Santa Cruz Island. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 2 / 41 The burned hulk of the Conception is brought to the surface by a salvage team off Santa Cruz Island. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 3 / 41 A mourner pays her respects at a memorial made up of scuba tanks, one for each victim, during the vigil at Chase Palm Park on Friday night. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 41 Mourners gather for a vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening honoring the victims of the Conception boat fire that broke out off Santa Cruz Island before dawn Monday and claimed 34 lives. (Luis Sinco) 5 / 41 Glen Fritzler, left, co-owner of Truth Aquatics and the dive boat Conception, consoles an attendee during a vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 6 / 41 Scuba diver Julia Donath joins mourners for a vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening to honor the 34 victims that died in the Conception boat fire. (Luis Sinco) 7 / 41 Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, with other officials, presents a wreath during the vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening homor the 34 victims of the Conception boat fire. (Luis Sinco) 8 / 41 Mourners gather for a vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening honoring the victims of the Conception boat fire that broke out off Santa Cruz Island before dawn Monday and claimed 34 lives. (Luis Sinco) 9 / 41 Some of the thousands of people join a vigil on the beach in honor of those who lost their lives in the Conception boat fire along the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 10 / 41 Allison Metchikof, left and Rachel Levi, right, embrace during a vigil hosted by Deep Blue Scuba Center in honor of the victims aboard the dive ship Conception in Long Beach. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times) 11 / 41 Divers and support crews from many agencies work the scene of the dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island. (Santa Barbara County) 12 / 41 The derrick barge Salta Verde off the coast of Santa Cruz Island upon its arrival late Wednesday at the scene of the wreck of the dive boat Conception. (U.S. Coast Guard) 13 / 41 The search area where divers were looking through the sunken wreckage of the Conception is outlined. (KABC-TV) 14 / 41 Divers and support crews from many agencies work the scene of the dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island. (Santa Barbara County) 15 / 41 The owners of Truth Aquatics and the dive boat Conception, Glen and Dana Fritzler, right, and their daughter Ashley, left, during an interview in Santa Barbara, Calif. (KEYT-TV) 16 / 41 Surfer Tim DeVries of Santa Barbara views the “Lost at Sea Memorial” at the end of the Santa Barbara Harbor jetty Thursday morning. The memorial reads “In memory of our loved ones whose lives and destinies have been claimed by the sea.” (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 17 / 41 Members of the FBI dive team view a growing memorial prior to departing Thursday morning to the site of the dive boat tragedy. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 18 / 41 People pay their respects at a makeshift memorial in Santa Barbara for victims of the deadly dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 41 CJ Andelman, 12, of Santa Barbara, who has become a scuba diver along with her twin sister, plays her harp Wednesday morning during the memorial at Santa Barbara Harbor. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 20 / 41 Jennifer Homendy, center, of the National Transportation Safety Board, with other NTSB and Coast Guard officials on Santa Barbara Harbor aboard Vision, the sister ship to Conception. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 21 / 41 Santa Barbara resident Britany Martin lets her son Theo, 2, place flowers at a growing memorial to the fire victims at Santa Barbara Harbor. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 22 / 41 FBI dive team members prepare to leave Santa Barbara Harbor on Wednesday morning and head to the site of the fire. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 23 / 41 A memorial is growing at Santa Barbara Harbor, where the dive boat Conception was based. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 41 Olivia, left, sister of a female crew member thought to have died in the boat fire, hugs Jennifer Stafford, who placed flowers at Santa Barbara Harbor. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 41 The Conception burns off Santa Cruz Island on Monday morning. (Ventura County Fire Department) 26 / 41 Search and rescue personnel remove one of more than a dozen body bags in Santa Barbara Harbor after the Conception diving boat caught fire early Monday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 27 / 41 After hanging a dive flag in memory of the victims, JJ Lambert, 38, who said he had dived off the Conception as a kid, is hugged by Jenna Marsala, 33, at Santa Barbara Harbor near where the Conception departed. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 28 / 41 Orlando Aldana places candles, one for each person aboard the Conception, at a makeshift memorial at Sea Landing in the Santa Barbara Harbor. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 29 / 41 At Santa Barbara Harbor, James Miranda kneels in prayer. “It’s a very sad moment for California,” he said. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 41 Rescuers and law enforcement, on a boat docked at Santa Barbara Harbor, move a body that was recovered after Monday’s deadly boat fire. (Daniel Dreifuss / Associated Press) 31 / 41 The body of a victim is moved at Santa Barbara Harbor. (Daniel Dreifuss / Associated Press) 32 / 41 U.S. Coast Guard searches for victims of the dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island on Monday afternoon. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times ) 33 / 41 Dive boat captain Jerry Boylan is brought back to U.S. Coast Guard headquarters at Channel Islands Harbor on Monday in Oxnard. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 41 Firefighters arrive back at the U.S. Coast Guard Station after battling the fire. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times) 35 / 41 A victim from a dive boat that caught fire off the Ventura County coast early Monday morning is taken to an ambulance in Oxnard. (OnScene.TV) 36 / 41 The captain of the Grape Escape boat, which rescued survivors of a boat fire off the Channel Islands, looks on near the U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands in Oxnard on Monday. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images) 37 / 41 Firefighters battle a blaze on a dive boat near Santa Cruz Island. (Santa Barbara County Fire Department) 38 / 41 A diving boat fire near Santa Cruz Island off the Ventura County coast. (Santa Barbara County Fire Department) 39 / 41 The dive boat Conception is engulfed in flames after a deadly fire broke out aboard the vessel off the Southern California Coast. (Santa Barbara County) 40 / 41 The dive boat Conception seen at dawn Monday burns off Santa Cruz Island. (Santa Barbara County Fire) 41 / 41 Conception, the boat that caught fire off Ventura County. (Truth Aquatics)


Marjorie Murtagh Cooke, former director of the NTSB Office of Marine Safety, said in an interview with The Times that investigators would try to answer several key questions, including why no one below deck was able to escape the flames.

“Vessels have to have two exits for escape by law for the sleeping quarters,” Cooke said. “It appears that both exits from the sleeping quarters bring you up inside the vessel.”

If both escape routes from the sleeping quarters lead to the same area, which appears to be one large room, a fire there could potentially block the only means for passengers to get out, she said.

“With 30-plus people dying, the investigation could lead to changes in the way vessels are designed or protected depending on the findings,” she said.


The deadly fire has rattled Santa Barbara residents, many of whom have ties to the tight-knit maritime community.

The region has been hit with back-to-back tragedies over the last several years, residents say. First, the Thomas fire charred 281,893 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in 2017. Then, last year, a devastating mudslide tore through Montecito, destroying homes and killing at least 21 people, in Santa Barbara County’s tony enclave. Now, the deadly fire on the Conception.

Don Barthelmess, a retired diving instructor who taught at Santa Barbara City College for 30 years, said he had chartered the Conception many times over the years. He was most recently aboard its sister vessel, the Vision, in May. At that time, the crew explained the safety procedures and pointed out firefighting equipment, Barthelmess said.


The captain “trained his crew very well. They took their training very seriously. They’re very serious about boat briefings,” he said. “I can’t think of a situation where it’s been lax. I know that that crew would do everything humanly possible to try to save people if they could have.”

Perry Cabugos, who previously worked as a second captain on the Conception and as a captain on the company’s other boats, said divers frequently sought out Truth Aquatics’ vessels for trips with their friends and families.

“We’ve seen generations come through,” Cabugos said. “You’d see them come back year after year with their families and watch their kids do their first dives. The dive community is a family.”


On Wednesday morning, walkers and cyclists stopped by a makeshift memorial at the harbor for the victims. The memorial, which has been up for several days, was filled with fresh flowers, and a framed copy of the poem “The Ocean” by Nathaniel Hawthorne was propped next to a photograph of a victim.

“The earth has guilt, the earth has care,

Unquiet are its graves;

But peaceful sleep is ever there,

Beneath the dark blue waves.”

“It’s nice to see,” said Mark Bright, who stopped by the memorial on his bicycle route, adding, “The whole city is depressed.”

Times staff writers Leila Miller, Richard Winton and Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.