Originally Posted by
Auxtank
Ship fires are one of the most difficult fire fighting challenges.
Ships are basically space divided in to a series of (in this case, hundreds) of compartmentalised spaces.
The fire has to be fought as it emerges from those compartmnts - if it is unsafe for crews to enter and automatic fire suppression is unavailable or ineffective.
In this case there is a million gallons of JP-5 fuel in the bilges making it indeed most unsafe to hang around in there.
The fact that the ship was in maintenance most probably assumes that hatches, doors, fire doors were open, blocked by maintenance equipment, tools, etc. Hell of a mess basically and much compromised in terms of fire safety.
Just watch a couple of ship fire fighting exercises on youtube and you'll see how truly scary/ difficult/ horrendous the whole thing is.
I’ve served on a carrier as a naval officer and I can assure you that our fire training and damage control training was very rigorous and as realistic as can be. Fire fighting in darkened spaces with real fires involving ladders, multiple compartments and decks even with ‘fear naught’ suits and oxygen taxes one’s strengths.
Bravo Zulu to all involved on Bonnie Dick