families of 34 tourists who were killed in a dive boat blaze in california in 2019 sue the coast guard alleging that the vessel should never have passed inspection

The families of 34 people killed in the Conception dive boat fire two years ago filed a lawsuit against the U.S Court Guard on Wednesday. 

The suit, filed in Los Angeles, alleges the boat was in violation of several Coast Guard regulations, and that the institution failed to promptly identify the issues, leading to the death of 33 passengers and one crew member on September 2, 2019. 

According to the suit, the Coast Guard allowed Conception to operate after a 2019 inspection, despite the boat having a defective and not adequately fire-protected electrical system.

The families had already sued Glen and Dana Fritzler, owners of Truth Aquatics, the dive fleet that operated Conception. 

In this photo provided by the Ventura County Fire Department, VCFD firefighters respond to the deadly Conception boat fire. Families of the victims sued the Coast Guard on Wednesday, claiming the institution failed to recognize several irregularities when the boat was inspected 

The horrific fire that took place on Sept 2, 2019, claimed the lives of 33 passengers and one crew member who were trapped below deck. Five other crew members managed to escape the flames 

The 33 passengers who had boarded Conception during a sports exhibitions, were trapped in a bunk room below the main deck. All crew members were sleeping and by the time they woke up, they could not assist the victims 

An investigation by the National Safety Transportation Board found that Truth Aquatics was at fault for not having a required roving patrol overnight, who could have warned passengers of the fire earlier  

Below deck aboard the Conception dive boat and looking from the back to the front. A smoke detector can be seen

Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester addresses the media outside the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's headquarters in Santa Barbara, California, a day after the Conception fire 

It was also noted in the lawsuit that Vision, another boat owned by Truth Aquatics, had nearly caught fire a year before the Conception fire.  

Attorneys for the families argue that the Coast Guard should have been aware that Truth Aquatics had 'added undocumented and ill-designed electrical outlets throughout the vessel for the purpose of battery charging,' the Orange County Register reported. 

Initially, it was suspected the fire was caused by a lithium battery charging in a malfunctioning outlet.  

Although the cause of the fire was ultimately deemed unknown by the National Transportation Safety Board, Truth Aquatics was found at fault for not having a roving patrol on the night shift, allowing the fire to escalate as passengers and crew slept.  

One of five crew members who survived the deadly Conception fire, Ryan Sims, said the boat was unseaworthy in a lawsuit against Truth Aquatics, and the scuba diving company that chartered it, Worldwide Diving Adventures in September 2020.  

Sims broke his leg in three parts when trying to escape the fire.  

The grand jury cited three specific federal safety violations - failures to assign a night watch or roving patrol aboard the boat, to conduct sufficient crew training or to conduct adequate fire drills. 

The Conception fire was the worst maritime accident in modern California history. 

The 75-foot commercial boat was anchored in Platts Harbor on the North Side of Santa Cruz Island when fire broke around 3am.  

All six crew members were asleep, and by the time they woke up, the fire was beyond their ability to extinguish it.

The 33 passengers who had boarded Conception during a sports exhibitions, were trapped in a bunk room below the main deck.

One crew member was also trapped below deck.   

The five surviving crew members had been above deck in berths behind the wheelhouse and escaped by leaping overboard as the burning boat sank into the Pacific.

They told investigators that flames coming from the passenger quarters were too intense to save anyone trapped below. 

On December 2020, the captain of the boat, Jerry Nehl Boyle,67, was indicted on on federal manslaughter charges.

The indictment accused Boylan of causing the deaths of the 33 passengers and one crew member who perished in the Labor Day weekend boat fire by way of 'his misconduct, negligence, and inattention to his duties.'

It emerged that Boylan had made two mayday calls on discovering the blaze. Coroner investigators determined the victims died of smoke inhalation.

Coast Guard records show fire safety violations on the Conception in 2014 and 2016 were quickly fixed. There were no deficiencies found in February or August 2018 inspections.

Following the disaster, the U.S. Coast Guard issued a safety bulletin urging limits on the use of lithium-ion batteries and chargers aboard passenger vessels.     

Steve Salika, a veteran Apple engineer, his wife, Diana Adamic, daughter, Tia Salika, and Apple colleague Dan Garcia were among the 33 perished passengers. 

They were celebrating Tia’s 17th birthday.

The birthday girl's friend, 16-year-old Berenice Felipe, was also on board the vessel. Both girls attended Pacific Collegiate School, a charter school located in Santa Cruz.

Senior Apple engineer Steve Salika (left and right) died alongside his wife, 17-year-old daughter, the girl's school friend and Salika's co-worker on board the dive boat

Lisa Fiedler, a 52-year-old hairdresser, photographer and avid diver, also was a passenger on the boat, according to her mother and friends

Michael Quitasol was celebrating his birthday with daughters Nicole (far left), Evan (second from right), Angela (far right) and his partner Fernisa Sison (not pictured) during a dive boat fire off of Santa Barbara, California

Steve Salika was just a month shy of his 30th anniversary working for Apple. His LinkedIn page indicates that he was employed as senior engineer for hardware and software in Cupertino, California.

Lisa Fiedler, a 52-year-old hairdresser and photographer from Mill Valley, was a passenger on the boat, according to her mother, Nancy Fiedler.

She said her daughter loved nature and jokingly described her as 'part fish' owning to her love of diving.  

Two Santa Monica residents, Marybeth Guiney and Charles McIlvain, were also both aboard the ship.

Described as an ocean enthusiast, sales director Guiney was praised for her dedicated work to help protect sharks and other sea life.

On friend said: 'She was such an inspiration... She was endlessly energetic, optimistic and always had a smile to share. Just can’t believe it. What a tragedy for so many.'

McIlvain, 44, according to his Facebook page worked as a visual effects designer at Walt Disney Imagineering. 

Evan, Nicole and Angela Quitasol were with their father Michael Quitasol and stepmother Fernisa Sison when the fire broke in the Conception. 

Evan Quitasol was a nurse at St. Joseph’s Medical Center of Stockton, where her father and Sison had worked after attending nursing school at San Joaquin Delta College.

Kristy Finstad, 41, of Santa Cruz was among the divers helping to lead the expedition aboard the Conception, which caught fire around 3am on September 2, 2019

Raymond 'Scott' Chan, 59 , a physics teacher at American High School in Fremont, also was aboard with his daughter, 26-year-old wildlife biologist Kendra Chan

An Arizona couple, Patricia Beitzinger and her partner of two years, Neal Baltz, were on the trip

Friends and family identified the sole crew member who perished in the boat fire as 25-year-old Allie Kurtz (left and right). She was a volunteer with a conservation group 

Her father, Rob Kurtz, wrote of her: 'Allie had a heart of gold, and lived her life on her terms'

Ocean enthusiast Marybeth Guiney was among those aboard the ship. She was remembered for her work to help protect sharks and other sea life

Charles McIlvain , 44, who is survived by wife Jasmine Lord,who was not aboard the Conception. A friend posted that 'Chuck' was 'full of life,' had a 'contagious laugh' and was a 'warm soul' 

Candles are lit in Santa Barbara Harbor at a makeshift memorial for victims of the Conception boat fire on September 3, 2019 

A woman looks emotional as she kneels at a makeshift memorial in Santa Barbara Harbor 

Sison also worked at the college teaching first-year nursing students full-time in 2005 and 2006 and later as an adjunct instructor, according to the school’s spokesman, Alex Breitler. 

Others on board included students from Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz, a public charter school for grades 7 through 12, the school said.

Raymond 'Scott' Chan, 59, a physics teacher at American High School in Fremont, also was aboard with his daughter, 26-year-old wildlife biologist Kendra Chan, said Brian Killgore, a spokesman for the Fremont Unified School District.

This September 2 image from video released by the US Coast Guard shows a Coast Guard Sector San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter video screen, as crew responds to the boat fire

'His students knew him to be an innovative and inspiring teacher who developed a passion for physics among his students,' the district said in a statement. 'His loss is a tremendous tragedy for our school district.'

Scott Chan's wife of 35 years, Vicki Moore, spoke to KTVU about losing her husband and her firstborn child.   

'Right now, it’s a combination of just shock and disbelief and some numbness,' she told the station. 'You don’t expect to have a child that dies before you. I can barely talk about my husband, but frankly, it’s even harder when it’s your own child.' 

Kendra Chan worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Ventura, and her heartbroken mother said she was proud of all she was doing, describing her as an amazing young woman.  

The sole crew member who perished in the boat fire was 25-year-old Allie Kurtz, a volunteer with the environmental conservation group Channel Islands Restoration.

Her father, Rob Kurtz, said: 'Allie had a heart of gold, and lived her life on her terms.

'She left the movie industry to follow her love of boating and scuba diving.

'The only sense of comfort right now is knowing she passed doing what she loved.

'I will always love you and will miss you forever! You became the pirate you wanted to be, now sail away.'

An Arizona couple, Patricia Beitzinger and Neal Baltz, also perished on the trip.

'They went to heaven doing something they loved together,' Neal’s father, John Baltz, told the television station.

Also below decks was Kristy Finstad, 41, a marine biologist and co-owner of Worldwide Diving Adventures in Santa Cruz, which chartered the boat. Finstad was leading the scuba tour.

Finstad knew the area well and had done hundreds of dives in the Channel Islands, where she first swam with her father as a toddler. She first dove with a tank off Mexico at age 9, according to her company’s website.

Finstad studied damselfish and corals in the Tahitian Islands, dove for black pearls in the French Polynesian Tuamotus Islands and counted salmonids for the city of Santa Cruz, where she lived. She also did research for the Australian Institute of Marine Science and wrote a restoration guidebook for the California Coastal Commission.

'My mission is to inspire appreciation for our underwater world,' she wrote on her company’s website.

She and her husband had just returned from sailing across the South Pacific.