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Hundreds of sailors are fighting to save a burning Navy warship docked in San Diego. The USS Bonhomme Richard caught fire on Sunday and has sent acrid smoke over downtown. (July 14)
AP Domestic
WASHINGTON – The Navy’s USS Bonhomme Richard burned for the third day Tuesday at its pier in San Diego as the Navy reported progress in containing the blaze.
The amphibious assault ship, essentially a small aircraft carrier, has been heavily damaged by the fire that broke out Sunday far below its flight deck. Fire crews could extinguish the blaze in the next 24 hours, Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck told reporters at a briefing.
“Significant progress has been made,” Sobeck said.
Smoke continued to pour from the 844-foot vessel as helicopters and tug boats dumped water on its decks and hull to cool the ship. Temperatures from the fire, fed by building materials, reached 1,000 degrees and have damaged the Bonhomme Richard’s superstructure.
Sobeck described the ship’s condition as stable and said its million-gallon fuel tanks are no longer threatened by heat or flames.
The two fires that burned Tuesday were at the front and rear of ship. The cause of the fire is unknown, although it appears to have started in a vast cargo area that is used to transport landing craft and equipment used by Marines when they assault a shore.
The ship had been in San Diego for maintenance, and duct work and other material to service it had hindered firefighting, Sobeck said.
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Extreme heat and smoke have injured 61 firefighters, 38 of them from the Navy, Sobeck said. The injuries have been minor and nobody remains hospitalized.
A damage assessment will have to wait until the fire is put out, Sobeck said.
The Bonhomme Richard, which was commissioned in 1998, would cost about $4 billion to replace if it cannot be repaired, said Todd Harrison, an expert on military budgets at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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