Fireplace crews struggle San Diego navy ship fireplace, 18 sailors hurt By Reuters

By Gabriella Borter

(Reuters) – A a few-alarm fireplace erupted on Sunday aboard a U.S. warship docked at Naval Foundation San Diego, prompting an evacuation of the vessel and sending about 18 sailors to the hospital with minor injuries, Navy and nearby hearth officers claimed.

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

Aerial movie footage from the scene confirmed substantially of the 844-foot (257 meter) warship engulfed in thick smoke, as firefighting boats in the harbor aimed streams of h2o at the burning vessel.

“18 Sailors have been transferred to a community medical center with non-life threatening accidents,” Naval Floor Forces wrote on Twitter on Sunday afternoon, introducing “The entire crew is off the ship and all are accounted.”

About 160 sailors were aboard when the fire was to start with claimed. San Diego television station KGTV, an ABC News affiliate, noted the ship was going through schedule routine maintenance at the time and typically carries a crew of approximately 1,000.

Rear Admiral Charles Brown, a U.S. Navy spokesman, said the injured sailors experienced typically sustained smoke inhalation and slight burns.

All San Diego Fireplace Rescue responders had been accounted for as of 11:19 a.m. (6:19 PM GMT), the office mentioned on Twitter.

All-around noon community time, the office claimed all of its personnel experienced been directed to exit the pier, although aerial footage showed the blaze showing up to mature in size.

Two other warships docked close by had been moved to piers farther from the burning vessel in just the upcoming 90 minutes, the Navy mentioned in a assertion, putting the variety of individuals sent to the healthcare facility at 17 sailors and 4 civilians.

The Bonhomme Richard, commissioned in 1998, has participated in various army functions in excess of the yrs 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-obligation U.S. Navy SEALs, according to WGTV.

The ship was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s founding fathers and creator of the influential “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” which he wrote beneath the pseudonym Inadequate Richard or Richard Saunders. It turned a forerunner of the preferred “Old Farmer’s Almanac.”