A crewman injured while escaping the fire that killed 34 people aboard a dive boat off Southern California sued the vessel's owner and the company that chartered it.
Ryan Sims filed the lawsuit last week in Ventura County Superior Court saying the boat - named the Conception - was unseaworthy and operated in an unsafe manner. Sims had only worked on the boat three weeks as a cook when he was awakened by loud noises before dawn Sept. 2 and found himself trying to get away from fast-moving flames.
Sims jumped from the upper deck, where he and other crew members had been sleeping, down to the main deck, breaking his leg in three places, and hurting his back and neck. He managed to get in the water, where he was eventually rescued by a fellow crew member.