Terror struck before dawn on Labor day when five men knocked on the door of a nearby couple’s boat. The five men were in their underwear, soaking wet, and shivering when they showed up at 3:15 a.m. The men then proceeded to explain that their 75-foot boat had caught on fire and they had to jump ship. 

The five crew members had escaped the fire, but 34 passengers and one crew member were left in the blaze.  They were sleeping on the bottom deck of the ship when the fire started, ultimately resulting in their deaths. The crew claims they tried to rescue the passengers but were driven back by heat and flames. 

“I think the crew members are to blame: it was an abandonment. The crew on deck was able to escape but over 30 passengers were killed, they were more worried about their own safety,” said Salma Treish, senior. 

Along with the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and other agencies searched the agencies offices in Santa Barbara. 

The boat was built in 1981, and despite being 38 years old, Coast Guard records show it passed its two most recent inspections with no safety violations. Previous customers of the excursion said the company and the captains of its three boats were very safety conscious.

“I question the safety of the boat along with the crew’s training,” said Treish. 

Authorities are focused on figuring out the cause of the fire, including investigating how batteries and electronics were stored and charged. They are also looking into how the crew was trained and what they were doing at the time of the fire. Authorities said they believe smoke inhalation caused the deaths of the 34 passengers, raising new questions about where the fire started and how it spread.

Ryan Sims, one of the surviving crew members, sued the boat’s owner and the dive charter company, claiming the boat was not properly maintained and employees did not have proper training. He was trapped with other crew members when the fire broke out on the boat, and was forced to jump from the top deck into the water and broke one of his legs in three places.

A lawyer for the company debated the claim that the crew was asleep and said earlier that a crew member “checked” the galley area about 45 minutes before the fire broke out.

Many conflicting stories and lawsuits do not distract from the fact that over 30 people are dead and hundreds are grieving the loss of their loved ones.