Crew Was Asleep When Fatal Boat Fire Ignited, Officials Say

Crew Was Asleep When Fatal Boat Fire Ignited, Officials Say
The burned hull of the Conception is brought to the surface by a salvage team off Santa Cruz Island in the Santa Barbara Channel in Southern California, on Sept. 12, 2019. Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via AP
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LOS ANGELES—A California scuba dive boat was operating in violation of Coast Guard regulations when crew members were sleeping and a pre-dawn fire killed 34 people, leaving grieving families wondering if a required night watchman could have saved their loved ones.

Sept. 12 brought a disclosure from the National Transportation Safety Board that all six crew members were asleep aboard the Conception on Sept. 2 when the deadly blaze broke out.