Fire crews battle San Diego navy ship fire, 18 sailors injured

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Fire crews battle San Diego navy ship fire, 18 sailors injured

By Gabriella Borter

 

Firefighting boats spray water onto the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard as smoke rises from a fire onboard the ship at Naval Base San Diego, as seen from Coronado, California, U.S. July 12, 2020. REUTERS/Bing Guan

 

(Reuters) - A three-alarm fire erupted on Sunday aboard a U.S. warship docked at Naval Base San Diego, prompting an evacuation of the vessel and sending about 18 sailors to the hospital with minor injuries, Navy and local fire officials said.

 

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department reported an explosion in conjunction with the blaze, which struck at about 8:30 a.m. local time aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault vessel.

 

Aerial video footage from the scene showed much of the 844-foot (257 meter) warship engulfed in thick smoke, as firefighting boats in the harbor aimed streams of water at the burning vessel.

 

"18 Sailors have been transferred to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries," Naval Surface Forces wrote on Twitter on Sunday afternoon, adding "The entire crew is off the ship and all are accounted."

 

About 160 sailors were aboard when the fire was first reported. San Diego television station KGTV, an ABC News affiliate, reported the ship was undergoing routine maintenance at the time and normally carries a crew of roughly 1,000.

 

The U.S. Navy said 18 sailors were taken to hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. This report produced by Zachary Goelman.

 

Rear Admiral Charles Brown, a U.S. Navy spokesman, said the injured sailors had mostly sustained smoke inhalation and minor burns.

 

All San Diego Fire Rescue responders were accounted for as of 11:19 a.m. (6:19 PM GMT), the department said on Twitter.

 

Around noon local time, the department said all of its personnel had been directed to exit the pier, while aerial footage showed the blaze appearing to grow in size.

 

Two other warships docked nearby were moved to piers farther from the burning vessel within the next 90 minutes, the Navy said in a statement, putting the number of people sent to the hospital at 17 sailors and four civilians.

 

The Bonhomme Richard, commissioned in 1998, has participated in several military operations over the years and also has appeared in a pair of Hollywood films - the 2012 sci-fi action movie "Battleship," starring Liam Neeson and singer Rihanna, and "Act of Valor," which featured active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs, according to WGTV.

 

The ship was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, one of America's founding fathers and author of the influential "Poor Richard's Almanack," which he wrote under the pseudonym Poor Richard or Richard Saunders. It became a forerunner of the popular "Old Farmer's Almanac."

 

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter and Steve Gorman; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-13

 

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[steven100]

they need more high pressure water cannons from barges and onboard hoses.

If there was an explosion, possible started in the engine room. 

Hope they extinguish this quickly before it does to much damage.

[Tug]

I’ve been aboard her many times a fine ship with amazing capabilities thank god it happened on a Sunday when most crew and contractors are ashore and Steven 100 it depends on what type of fire as to how to fight it also if she was under weigh crewed up the fire most probably would not has been as severe because of the exclent damage control and firefighting capabilities of her crew 

[khwaibah]

 

 

U.S. Navy

20 mins · 

 

 

Surface WarriorsLike Page

2 hrs · 

Federal Fire San Diego is the on-scene lead for firefighting efforts on Naval Base San Diego combatting the fire on USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6).

“Currently the...See More

[NanLaew]

Fires on ships depend very much on starving the location of the fire of fuel... oxygen, by closing vents and shutting down ventilation. Looking at the extents of the smoke escaping, there are a lot of vents still open. The engine room is typically in the bowels of the vessel with dedicated ventilation and relatively easy to starve of air. They also have dedicated fire suppression systems.

 

The initial Navy press conference places the fire location as "lower vehicle storage area" and is a Class A fire so combustibles are probably materials in place for the repair and maintenance program in a "large open area" with loads of ventilation. That sounds like loads of combustibles and unlimited fuel supply.

 

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by NanLaew

[NanLaew]

Compare that reasoned and well explained 'state of play' from the U.S. Navy spokesman with this awesome bit of 'off the cuff' speculation on the U.S. Navy's deeper woes, penned within hours of the fire breaking out.

USS Bonhomme Richard Burns, Likely A Victim Of Lax Fire Safety Practices

'A massive fire, likely caused by lax fire safety practices during pier-side maintenance, ravaged the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on Sunday, one of America’s 10 big-deck amphibious assault ships. These vessels are intended to be an integral part in holding the line against a resurgent China, and the loss of this multibillion-dollar ship—which appears likely—will be felt throughout the fleet. ...'

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2020/07/12/uss-bonhomme-richard-burns-likely-a-victim-of-lax-fire-safety-practices/#28feb4a376a9

[CGW]

12 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Fires on ships depend very much on starving the location of the fire of fuel... oxygen, by closing vents and shutting down ventilation. Looking at the extents of the smoke escaping, there are a lot of vents still open. The engine room is typically in the bowels of the vessel with dedicated ventilation and relatively easy to starve of air. They also have dedicated fire suppression systems.

Yes, vents and suppression systems in the engine room would also be able to be activated from the control room, as should the ventilation system.

[steven100]

sad to see a ship on fire, they need to act quickly and get fire extinguishes in there and water hoses and plenty of fire fighters ... maybe 100 or more.

[MaxYakov]

From what I understand from the 1967 USS Forrestal accidental Zuni rocket launch and ensuing explosions/fire, if it's an aviation fuel fire they should be using foam and not water. The Forrestal's damage control team go wiped out early-on and the remaining firefighting personnel were using water instead of from and that made it worse. I wonder if the fire boats carry foam for use in aviation-related fires. One would think ...

[chrisinth]

3 hours ago, MaxYakov said:

From what I understand from the 1967 USS Forrestal accidental Zuni rocket launch and ensuing explosions/fire, if it's an aviation fuel fire they should be using foam and not water. The Forrestal's damage control team go wiped out early-on and the remaining firefighting personnel were using water instead of from and that made it worse. I wonder if the fire boats carry foam for use in aviation-related fires. One would think ...

What the tugs are doing is boundry cooling and containment. Dedicated fire-fighting teams would be attacking the the seat of the fire, if BCF/BTM drenching (or whatever chemicals the Americans use) had not been deployed in the affected location(s).

 

Oh, it's not just Avcat that foam should be used, it is all oil-based fires. Foam or dry powder.

[steven100]

they need to get 200 firemen with breathing apparatus and extinguishers.

Why is it taking them so long to put out a fire  ? 

[Puchaiyank]

Maybe some disgruntled sailors acting out their frustration...emulating their brothers burning up the cities?

[khwaibah]

Not good news.

 

TYLER ROGOWAYView Tyler Rogoway's Articles
Aviation_Intel







Tyler Rogoway

@Aviation_Intel
·
2h

UPDATE! The forward superstructure appears to have partially melted and helicopters with searchlights are now using Bambi Buckets to douse the flames from above. Amazing video at the link.


 USS Bonhomme Richard's Bridge Engulfed In Flames As Fire Rages Into The Night
The blaze appears to have migrated to the ship's superstructure that is packed full of sensors, communications gear, weapons, and much more.
thedrive.com
The USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) continued to burn after the sun had set in San Diego. It now appears that the fire has migrated to the ship's island superstructure with its bridge seen engulfed in flames, which is a very bad thing. Additional large booms were also heard as the blaze continued to rage aboard some 14 hours after it started.

Make sure to read our previous rolling coverage to get up to speed on what is increasingly looking to be a monumental disaster for the U.S. Navy.

The USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) continued to burn after the sun had set in San Diego. It now appears that the fire has migrated to the ship's island superstructure with its bridge seen engulfed in flames, which is a very bad thing. Additional large booms were also heard as the blaze continued to rage aboard some 14 hours after it started.

Make sure to read our previous rolling coverage to get up to speed on what is increasingly looking to be a monumental disaster for the U.S. Navy.

[IAMHERE]

3 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Maybe some disgruntled sailors acting out their frustration...emulating their brothers burning up the cities?

Well, got to figure Benjamin Franklin was from that slave owning society. Will probably be decommissioned or at least renamed.

[steven100]

They need to get 200 or more firemen in there with hoses and put it out.

Why are they taking so long ?    why are they not in a hurry   ??

[CALSinCM]

Live ordinance in the hanger bay and somebody screwed up SOP?  Boom - and another U.S.S. Forrestal.  Who knows.  Just guessing. 

[steven100]

Why are they not sending in 200 firemen with the hoses ?   why are they letting it burn ??

[NanLaew]

On 7/13/2020 at 9:45 PM, CALSinCM said:

Live ordinance in the hanger bay and somebody screwed up SOP?  Boom - and another U.S.S. Forrestal.  Who knows.  Just guessing. 

There's no ordnance onboard. The vessel is in port for refit and that was all removed as well as most of the fuel.

 

On 7/14/2020 at 8:58 AM, steven100 said:

Why are they not sending in 200 firemen with the hoses ?   why are they letting it burn ??

The area where the fire started was earlier described as the 'lower vehicle storage area'. This is in the guts of the ship: see item 18 below.

 

 

With a fire of that intensity, the deckheads above and underneath the fire will very likely have been buckled and melted by now, dropping the fire into the smoke filled lower levels and also spreading upwards. The above deck superstructure and bridge decks being destroyed suggests to me that with fire across up to six decks, they have probably abandoned any real efforts to save her against the huge risk to the lives of the firefighters. It's a limited containment effort now with boundary cooling from fire monitors on boats and water drops by helicopter.

 

I think the best they can do is tow her out and scuttle her. The damage is already catastrophic and she's a write-off. However, with fuel reserves as well as loads of environmentally unfriendly stuff still onboard, that won't happen so take her to a safe anchorage or somewhere where they can ground her while she burns out before being salvaged for scrap.

Edited July 15, 2020 by NanLaew

[NanLaew]

I was listening to a US radio station earlier that claimed that that the vessel's Halon fire suppression system had been disabled for maintenance during the yard stay. I guess nobody considered an active fire watch in lieu of having only ~13% of the normal crew complement onboard.

[khwaibah]

 

 

U.S. Navy

12 hrs · 

Fight on.

Sailors and civilian fire crews continue to combat a fire aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) at Naval Base San Diego.

DETAILS ⬇️ 
https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp…

 

 

 

 

[stevenl]

On 7/14/2020 at 8:58 AM, steven100 said:

Why are they not sending in 200 firemen with the hoses ?   why are they letting it burn ??

Probably because the people on the scene in charge do not read Thai Visa, so are missing out on your expert suggestion.

[EVENKEEL]

On 7/13/2020 at 1:32 AM, Puchaiyank said:

Maybe some disgruntled sailors acting out their frustration...emulating their brothers burning up the cities?

Total BS, you should be ashamed.

[EVENKEEL]

44 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

I was listening to a US radio station earlier that claimed that that the vessel's Halon fire suppression system had been disabled for maintenance during the yard stay. I guess nobody considered an active fire watch in lieu of having only ~13% of the normal crew complement onboard.

The civilian workers supply their own fire watches.

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

The civilian workers supply their own fire watches.

Maybe they were supposed to?