https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...nhomme-richard
Navy Says At Least One Fire Continues To Burn On The USS Bonhomme Richard
U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Philip Sobeck, head of Expeditionary Strike Group Three, says that the USS Bonhomme Richard is stable and structurally safe despite a still ongoing fire onboard the Wasp class amphibious assault ship. The vessel has now been burning continuously for more than 48 hours now and has produced sustained temperatures of at least 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas......The key new details from this latest press conference are:
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- The ship is stable and the structure is safe.
- No major damage to the ship's four main engineering spaces.
- No threat to the ship's fuel tanks at present.
- The fuel tanks are well below any of the remaining active fires or heat sources, so any risk to them at this point is low.
- The ship has salt water-filled compensation tanks that also help keep the fuel tanks cool.
- There is at least one active fire in a forward area of the ship.
- Firefighters had been unable to get to those spaces until today.
- There is another heat source that could be another fire aft.
- These two areas are isolated from each other.
- Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Three (HSC-3), based at nearby Naval Air Station North Island, has conducted more than 1,200 water bucket drops, in total.
- In addition to other external firefighting operations, these drops have been essential in allowing firefighters to actually get on the ship.
- 61 personnel have been injured, in total, so far, 38 sailors and 23 civilians.
- None of those individuals are hospitalized.
- An explosion occurred while the crew was securing the space where the initial fire had broken out before they could safely energize the fire suppression system.
- The fire spread rapidly from the front to the rear of the ship.
- Navy is working with San Diego authorities to step up monitoring of potential adverse environmental impacts.
- Coast Guard is prepared to respond to any potential environmental issues, including an oil spill.
- No visible evidence of oil spill at present.
- Hope that all fires will be out within the next 24 hours.
- Too early to tell the full extent of the damage.
The Navy's position that the ship, which
has been visibly listing, is stable and structurally sound is a significant and positive development. There had been concerns that areas that had been exposed to persistent temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit could be compromised.
Still, the pictures that have already emerged online show significant internal damage, as well as to the flight deck and superstructure. It will take the Navy a not-insignificant amount of time to just conduct a full damage assessment.....