Three-Alarm Fire Aboard Navy Ship in San Diego Injures 21

SAN DIEGO—A three-alarm fire onboard the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard injured 17 sailors and four civilians Sunday morning while multiple agencies battled the blaze in San Diego throughout the day.

The cause and location of the blaze and the extent of damage were not known as of Sunday afternoon. The Navy declined to discuss the fire’s origin pending an investigation.

The 17 sailors and four civilians were sent to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to a statement from Naval Surface Forces in San Diego. A Navy spokesman said it is unknown whether those sailors were involved in firefighting efforts onboard.

In total, about 1,000 sailors are assigned to the 840-foot ship, according to a Naval Surface Forces spokesman, but 160 sailors were aboard Sunday morning. All sailors were accounted for and evacuated from the ship, the Navy said.

The fire was reported shortly after 8:50 a.m., according to San Diego Fire-Rescue officials. The cause was not known, although people at the scene reported hearing an explosion.

Federal Fire San Diego Division Chief Rob Bondurant said in a statement that two teams were still fighting the blaze on the ship as of 4:15 p.m.

Throughout the day, fumes and smoke that turned black, gray and white billowed from the ship. The city of National City issued an advisory around 2:30 p.m. urging residents to stay indoors due to potential health effects of the smoke plume.

Earlier at least a dozen fire engines and trucks were near the pier, with at least six ambulances staged inside. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said at the time that 150 firefighters were assigned to the blaze and a fire investigator was dispatched.

Also all ships in port in San Diego were directed to provide fire parties to assist in firefighting efforts, according to Mike Raney, a Navy spokesman.

Throughout the day many people gathered on the pedestrian bridge linking the “dry” side of the base — where many sailors live — to the “wet” side across Harbor Drive.

Two other ships, guided-missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS Russell, were moored near the Bonhomme Richard but were moved early Sunday afternoon to berths farther away from the burning vessel.

On CNN, San Diego Fire Chief Colin Stowell said that the ship could burn for days.

The ship was in drydock at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego last year and has been undergoing further maintenance pierside at Naval Base San Diego. Its last deployment was in 2018.

Amphibious assault ships are used to deploy Marines in amphibious landings. During operations, the ships conduct flight operations with helicopters and jet aircraft, such as the AV-8B Harrier and its replacement, the F-35 B Lightning.

While deployed, these ships carry more than 2,000 sailors and Marines.

Eric A. Dukat, a retired U.S. Navy commander who is now an associate professor in the College of Maritime Operational Warfare at the U.S. Naval War College, told The New York Times that sailors are thoroughly equipped to handle fires on ships.

“Everyone gets trained to be a firefighter, flooding stopper — all the damage control — and that’s because when you’re out at sea, there’s nobody coming to you,” he said.

Dukat, who worked as a damage control assistant aboard the U.S.S. Wasp, said fires on ships present a unique hazard because of the rising heat inside the vessel and the intense steam that’s produced when water is used.

In 1967, a fire on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Forrestal killed more than 130 sailors after a rocket accidentally fired on the flight deck and ignited several explosions. The episode has been used as a lesson on how to tackle safety procedures aboard Navy vessels, Dukat said.

Union-Tribune photojournalist Sam Hodgson contributed to this report.

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