TEHRAN (Iran News) – Hundreds of US firefighters battled through a second day to save a US navy war vessel in San Diego as it is listing because of water from the fire hoses, tugboats, and helicopters fighting the inferno, which has destroyed the ship’s forward mast.
According to Reuters, the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship, remained largely shrouded in thick, acrid smoke on Monday as the vessel began listing to its starboard side.
The fire, accompanied by at least one large explosion, erupted Sunday morning in the lower cargo hold of the 844-foot-long (257 meters) ship, docked for routine maintenance at its homeport at US Navy Base San Diego.
Helicopters dropped water over the ship throughout Monday while fireboats on the perimeter streamed water on the hull to cool it from the outside. San Diego fire crews discontinued blasting water into the ship from shore, apparently out of concern for destabilizing the vessel’s buoyancy.
Asked whether the ship might be burned beyond repair, Sobeck said he was “hopeful” it could be spared.
The Navy said 36 sailors and 23 civilians had been treated for minor injuries, including heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.
The cause of the fire is still unknown
The Bonhomme Richard, commissioned in 1998, is designed to carry US Marine Corps attack helicopters and ground troops into battle.
- source : Tasnim, Irannews
