Families of 4 victims of Conception boat fire off Southern California coast sue vessel’s owners
Lawyers representing families of a crew member and three passengers — who were among the 34 who died in a boat fire during a Labor Day dive trip off the Santa Barbara coast — sued the vessel’s owners Monday for alleged wrongful death.
The disaster killed 33 passengers and the one crew member, who were sleeping below the deck of the Conception when the fire started at around 3:15 a.m. on Sept. 2. Five other people, the vessel’s captain and four crew members, also were aboard, and survived.
The tragedy rocked the maritime and diving communities locally and nationwide. The victims were from all over California, along with other parts of the country.
At a Monday news conference in Los Angeles, lawyers announced they filed wrongful death claims on behalf of the families and accused the vessel’s owner, Truth Aquatics, of failing to follow safety regulations — including a night watch — that could have prevented the disaster. Proving that the owners were negligent and/or knew the vessel was unsafe will be a key factor for the claims to move forward.
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National Transportation Safety Board officials are still investigating what caused the fire to erupt.
The wrongful death claims are the most recent developments in a lawsuit that began on Sept. 5, when Truth Aquatics filed a complaint under an 1851 act that aims to protect them from potentially costly payouts to the decedents’ families. The maritime liability law states that the vessel is not liable for the loss or damage on the vessel, unless “the fire resulted from the design or neglect of the owner.”
The four, joint wrongful death claims outline the lawyers’ reasoning for why the owners should be deemed neglectful, as a response to Truth Aquatics’ complaint.
They were filed on behalf of crew member Alexandra “Allie” Kurtz, 26, of Santa Barbara and three passengers: Yulia Krashennaya, 40, of Berkeley; Sanjeeri Deopujari, 31, of Connecticut and her husband Kaustbh Nirmal, 33, of New York.
“We will demolish their Limitation and Liability Action and defenses,” said Robert Mongeluzzi, one of the lawyers on behalf of the families. “And hold them accountable on behalf of these victims.”
Lawyers for Truth Aquatics and its owners, Glen and Dana Fritzler, could not immediately be reached for comment. But in their initial complaint, lawyers for the Conception’s owners argued that the vessel was seaworthy and fit for its service.
Another family member — of victim Justin Dignam, 58, of Anaheim Hills — in November also responded to the owner’s complaint, arguing that the owners should be held liable.
Because the owners made the initial complaint to exonerate themselves from liability, victims’ lawyers will first have to successfully argue that they should be held liable, before the wrongful death claims can move forward.
“Once we prove negligence, then the burden shifts to them,” Mongeluzzi said.
The fire
The Conception was a 75-foot wood and fiberglass vessel built in 1981. The vessel had three levels, with the lower deck within the hull, where the passengers slept.
The NTSB’s preliminary report of the incident states that at the time of the fire, five crewmembers were sleeping in berths behind the wheelhouse; while the other crewmember, who later died, was asleep in the bunkroom along with the passengers.
The bunkroom was accessed from a ladderwell in the forward, starboard corner of the compartment, the report said, along with an emergency escape hatch located on the aft end.
A crew member sleeping in the wheelhouse berths woke up to a noise and discovered the fire at the aft end of the sundeck and rising up from the salon compartment below, according to the report. After alerting the rest of the crew and the captain notified the Coast Guard, crew members tried to reach the passengers and crew member below but were unsuccessful.
The five crew members then jumped off of the vessel and swam to safety to another nearby vessel. One crew member broke his leg during the escape.
Three crew members interviewed told officials that no mechanical or electrical issues were reported, according to the NTSB’s report.
The report stating that all of the crew members were asleep during the fire will be a key reference for victims’ lawyers. Federal law states that a vessel carrying passengers during the night must keep a suitable number of watchmen on each deck to guard against and “give alarm in case of a fire or other danger.”
“There have already been reports from captains with this same company saying there was no systematic nightwatch,” Mongeluzzi said. “It wasn’t part of the company policy and it was done on an ad hoc basis, usually when there was bad weather.”
Lawyers argue cause of fire
While the NTSB has not yet determined a cause for the fire, lawyers for the victims’ families argued their theory Monday.
They claim that a lithium-ion-battery charging station for the diving equipment, located at the vessel’s galley above the sleeping quarters, was likely the cause of the fire.
“The problem is, if you have one lithium-ion battery that starts overheating and is in contact with others, it will cause them to overheat,” said Jeff Goodman, another lawyer for the victims’ families. “If you have a grouping of lithium-ion batteries that are in the area where a fire begins, the fire will propagate, spread and it also burns especially hot.”
The vessel’s owners and operators should have been aware of that danger, lawyers allege.
About one year before the fire aboard the Conception, its sister ship Vision experienced a lithium-battery-caused fire, according to the joint wrongful death claims. In that incident, the crew members noticed and threw the battery overboard, Goodman said.
It’s not a coincidence that the area where the fire began was the same as the charging station, Mongeluzzi argued.
Another problem with the vessel, lawyers argued, was the lack of exits for the passengers to escape. The second exit, the hatch, was located above a bunk bed and was not easily accessible, Mongeluzzi said.
That was an large factor that led to the 34 victims being trapped in the fire, leading to their “agonizing deaths,” he added.