conception, conception. reporter: 30 miles from the mainland just north of los angeles, first responders beaten back by the inferno. it keeps being extinguished and reflashing possibly due to the amount of fool onboard. unsure why. reporter: five crew members escaped. the crew was actually already awake and on the bridge and they jumped off. five people were evacuated aboard a good samaritan pleasure craft known as the grape escape. reporter: one brought ashore on a stretcher rushed to the hospital, one limping, an injured ankle. two shoeless and shocked. 32 others were belowdecks. we re told there are numerous fatalities. listen to the dispatcher on that mayday call asking questions. roger. are they locked inside the boat? roger. can you get back onboard and unlock the doors so they can get off? reporter: we cannot hear the answers, and the coast guard has said the boast was in compliance. we are combing the shoreline.
in running condition. it was an excellent boat. excellent operation. fully compliant with maritime regulations, as i said. if you re on this boat, right, so the mayday call comes in right around 3:00 in the morning. if you re on this boat asleep, isn t there an escape hatch you re down below, if you re one of these passengers, a diver, isn t there an escape hatch? and would you know where it s located? yes. there would be. definitely. definitely know where the exits are. and the fire must have been so ferocious, that exit was just impossible. you are a church deacon, and i know you ve been an active diver for 39 years. you re inducted into the california rec divers hall of fame. can you just speak to the loss to this community and speaking about some of the people, perhaps, you knew. it will send ripples through
i can t hear you. the coast guard has received a mayday call from an unknown vessel. all are supposed to keep a sharp lookout. reporter: the 34 passengers were below deck, in an area used for sleeping. are they locked inside the boat? roger, are they locked on the boat? reporter: all five of the crew members onboard, in the main cabin, escaped. the crew was already awake and on the bridge and they jumped off. five people were evacuated aboard a good samaritan pleasure craft, known as the great escape. reporter: the boat was burned down to the water line. you notice fire extinguishers or anything? reporter: it s believed that the passengers below deck may have been trapped there by the flames. the fire was so intense, that even after it was put out, we re not able to embark the vessel
so i d say as a community we re very happy to know the ntsb is getting involved but it s just a tragedy you would not expect at all in terms of what we do. we go out to go dive and commune with nature and have a good time with the fish. you say you ve been diving for 38 years and never seen anything like this. i want to play for you this mayday call. this is between the coast guard and someone on the ship. i want your help in understanding what we re hearing. so listen to this. roger, there s no escape hatch for any of the people onboard. okay, now obviously we re only hearing one side of that conversation. we re only hearing the coast guard dispatch responding. but he says no way to unlock the doors, no escape hatch for the people onboard, no fire
inspects in charleston. we talked about a little wobble in the track, , this is 12-inchs of rain. this is something we have to pay attention to even though it seems we re trending off the coast. that 10-mile switch has been happening on and off the past couple days. adam, thank you so much. mayday, mayday, mayday! i can t breathe. aishah: look at this, a devastating story out of california. a mayday call and a voice of distress alerting the coast guard to a horrific scene off