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AP Report: So Far, Investigators Unable To Pinpoint Cause Of Deadly Boat Fire In Channel Islands

(Ventura County Fire Department photo)
The Conception burning off of Santa Cruz Island early Labor Day morning

The Associated Press is reporting investigators looking into the cause of the deadly Labor Day fire on board an excursion boat in the Channel Islands which killed 34 people have been unable to determine the cause of the blaze. Teams of investigators have been going through the remains of the Conception, which were taken to Naval Base Ventura County for study.

The Coast Guard, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the National Transportation Safety Board are among the agencies involved in efforts to determine what happened.

The AP says the information on the investigation came from a law enforcement source who wasn’t authorized to release the information publically. The source says some parts of the boat have been sent to specialized labs for testing.

The boat caught fire on the early morning hours of September 2nd. Five crew members on the upper part of the dive boat were able to jump overboard to safety. But, 33 passengers and one crew member died after they were trapped below deck by the flames.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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