A safety official said she was “taken aback” while touring the Vision, a boat similar in structure to the Conception, where at least 33 people perished early Monday morning in a massive fire off the coast of California.

Jennifer Homendy, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, expressed shock over the difficulties she faced while trying to access the emergency exit in the sleeping area aboard the vessel, particularly once the lights were shut off.

“You have to climb up a ladder and across the top bunk and then push a wooden door up,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “It was a tight space. We couldn’t turn the light on.”

“It was very difficult,” she added. “I was taken aback by that.”

Homendy also told the outlet the bunk room only had one fire extinguisher, which was blocked by a trash can, a feature that she says does not meet Coast Guard standards.

The Vision is very similar in layout to the doomed Conception, although the former is slightly larger in size, the Los Angeles Times reports. Both boats, which are owned by the company Truth Aquatics, include a sleeping area below deck lined with multiple single and double bunk beds and a wooden staircase leading up to the main galley. 

All 33 passengers, plus one crew member identified as 26-year-old Allie Kurtz, were in those bunks when the 75-foot commercial vessel went up in flames near Santa Cruz Island around 3:00 a.m. The fire spread quickly and blocked the narrow stairway to the upper decks and the emergency hatch, giving those below virtually no chance to excape, the Associated Press reports. 

Five additional crew members, who were on the Conception’s third deck when the fire broke out, were able to jump off the burning boat and seek help from a nearby recreational vessel named “The Grape Escape.”

The bodies of 33 victims have since been recovered, while one person remained missing as of Wednesday, authorities said.

The investigation into the fire’s origin remains ongoing. 

17 PHOTOSDozens killed after boat catches fire off California coastSee GalleryDozens killed after boat catches fire off California coastIn this photo provided by the Ventura County Fire Department, VCFD firefighters respond to a boat fire off the coast of southern California, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. The U.S. Coast Guard said it has launched several boats to help over two dozen people “in distress” off the coast of southern California. (Ventura County Fire Department via AP)In this photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, firefighters work to extinguish a dive boat engulfed in flames after a deadly fire broke out aboard the commercial scuba diving vessel off the Southern California Coast Monday morning, Sept. 2, 2019. (Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP)In this photo provided by the Ventura County Fire Department, VCFD firefighters respond to a boat fire off the coast of southern California, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. The U.S. Coast Guard said it has launched several boats to help over two dozen people “in distress” off the coast of southern California. (Ventura County Fire Department via AP)In this photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department a dive boat is engulfed in flames after a deadly fire broke out aboard the commercial scuba diving vesseloff the Southern California Coast Monday morning, Sept. 2, 2019. (Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP)In this photo provided by the Ventura County Fire Department, VCFD firefighters respond to a boat fire off the coast of southern California, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. The U.S. Coast Guard said it has launched several boats to help over two dozen people “in distress” off the coast of southern California. (Ventura County Fire Department via AP)A memorial outside Truth Aquatics for the victims of the Conception boat fire, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. A fire raged through a boat carrying recreational scuba divers anchored near an island off the Southern California coast early Monday, leaving multiple people dead and hope diminishing that any of the more than two dozen people still missing would be found alive. (AP Photo/Stefanie Dazio)Orlando Aldana, 42, of Santa Barbara, lights candles in honor of the victims at the growing memorial for those caught in the fire on the Conception boat, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019, in Santa Barbara, Calif. A fire raged through the boat carrying recreational scuba divers anchored near an island off the Southern California coast early Monday, leaving multiple people dead and hope diminishing that any of the more than two dozen people still missing would be found alive. (AP Photo/Stefanie Dazio)JJ Lambert, 38, and his fiancee, Jenna Marsala, 33, hang up a dive flag in remembrance of the victims of the Conception boat fire at a memorial site on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019, in Santa Barbara, Calif. A fire raged through the boat carrying recreational scuba divers anchored near an island off the Southern California coast early Monday, leaving multiple people dead and hope diminishing that any of the more than two dozen people still missing would be found alive. (AP Photo/Stefanie Dazio)A Ventura County Fire Department truck leaves U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands in Oxnard, Calif., Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. Multiple people are feared dead after a dive boat caught fire before dawn Monday off the Southern California coast. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)An FBI agent arrives at U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands in Oxnard, Calif., Monday, Sept. 2, 2019, as multiple people are feared dead after a dive boat caught fire before dawn Monday off the Southern California coast. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)FBI and Coast Guard personnel work together at U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands in Oxnard, Calif., Monday, Sept. 2, 2019, as multiple people are feared dead after a dive boat caught fire before dawn Monday off the Southern California coast. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)A woman is comforted by a member of the Ventura County Fire department at U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands in Oxnard, Calif., Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. Multiple people are feared dead after a dive boat caught fire before dawn Monday off the Southern California coast, according to the Coast Guard. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester, right, addresses the media at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands base in Oxnard, Calif. Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. A dive boat caught fire before dawn Monday off the Southern California coast. Several crew members were rescued and Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll told The Associated Press the Coast Guard was searching for others who may have been able to escape the fire by jumping from the boat. (AP Photo/Stefanie Dazio)CALIFORNIA shaded relief map, highlighted with SACRAMENTO (capital) and fire locators, partial graphicCoast Guard crews leave the US Coast Guard Station Channel Islands as they head out to the scene of the boat that burned and sank off the Santa Cruz islands early in the morning at the Coast Guard base in Oxnard, California on September 2, 2019. – A commercial scuba-dive boat sank amid intense flames early off the coast of Southern California and 34 passengers were unaccounted for, the US Coast Guard said. Five Conception crew members were awake and jumped into the water when flames burst out around 3:15 am (1015 GMT), Coast Guard Captain Monica Rochester told reporters in a televised briefing. She said 34 people — not the 33 reported earlier by the Coast Guard — were unaccounted for when the Conception sank 20 yards (meters) offshore, leaving only its bow exposed. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)(Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)Coast Guard crews leave the US Coast Guard Station Channel Islands as they head out to the scene of the boat that burned and sank off the Santa Cruz islands early in the morning at the Coast Guard base in Oxnard, California on September 2, 2019. – A commercial scuba-dive boat sank amid intense flames early off the coast of Southern California and 34 passengers were unaccounted for, the US Coast Guard said. Five Conception crew members were awake and jumped into the water when flames burst out around 3:15 am (1015 GMT), Coast Guard Captain Monica Rochester told reporters in a televised briefing. She said 34 people — not the 33 reported earlier by the Coast Guard — were unaccounted for when the Conception sank 20 yards (meters) offshore, leaving only its bow exposed. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)(Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)A Coast Guard crew leaves the US Coast Guard Station Channel Islands as they head out to the scene of the boat that burned and sank off the Santa Cruz islands early in the morning at the Coast Guard base in Oxnard, California on September 2, 2019. – A commercial scuba-dive boat sank amid intense flames early off the coast of Southern California and 34 passengers were unaccounted for, the US Coast Guard said. Five Conception crew members were awake and jumped into the water when flames burst out around 3:15 am (1015 GMT), Coast Guard Captain Monica Rochester told reporters in a televised briefing. She said 34 people — not the 33 reported earlier by the Coast Guard — were unaccounted for when the Conception sank 20 yards (meters) offshore, leaving only its bow exposed. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)(Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)Up Next

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