When the Worst Case Comes to Pass: Death Aboard the ‘Conception’
34 Perish in Fire on Dive Boat in the Santa Barbara Channel
The Conception, chartered for a three-day dive trip, burned to the waterline in Platt’s Harbor at Santa Cruz Island, killing 34 passengers. | Credit: Courtesy Truth Aquatics and S.B. County Fire Department
Thirty-four dead. A furious flash fire on the high seas in the black of night.
It happened in the early morning hours of Monday, September 2, Labor Day — all within 20 yards of Santa Cruz Island.
Five crewmembers managed to escape with their lives. They’d been sleeping upstairs on the top deck.
