Santa Barbara Marks Conception Dive Boat Fire Anniversary with Memorial Tribute
Tracy Lehr
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The sixth anniversary of the deadly Conception dive boat fire is on Sept. 2.
On Labor Day, people visited the memorial at the end of the Santa Barbara breakwater to pay their respects.
The dive boat caught fire off Santa Cruz Island before daybreak on Labor Day in 2019.
All 33 passengers and one crew member, who were sleeping below deck, died.
Mick Kronman, who served as Harbor Master at the time, took a seat by the memorial and reflected on the tragedy.
“I was Harbor Master at the time it happened, and I wanted to take the time today—as I do every year—to come here and pay my respects to the people who lost their lives in this unmitigated tragedy,” said Kronman.
He said the disaster prompted a renewed focus on maritime safety improvements. Federal regulators have since adopted new rules requiring enhanced fire detection systems, safer escape routes, and stricter inspections for small passenger vessels.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the fire spread undetected because of the lack of a required night watch. A later report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pointed to a plastic trash can on the main deck as the likely origin of the fire, though the exact cause remains undetermined.
Conception Captain Jerry Boylan was convicted of seaman’s manslaughter in 2023 and sentenced to four years in prison. He remains free on bail while his appeal is pending.
Families of victims have also filed wrongful death lawsuits against Truth Aquatics, the company that owned the vessel, as well as the federal government, citing failures to enforce safety rules. Those civil cases remain ongoing.
Trader Joe’s donated flowers for the memorial over the Labor Day weekend, and volunteers are tending to them.