USS Bonhomme Richard explosion

[Bush92]

Happening now, docked in San Diego

Pray for those Marines and sailors.

 

[depotoo]

 

[depotoo]

Now I'm hearing that the bridge has collapsed and they are getting ready to tow her to sink at sea.

I don't know if that info is accurate.

I heard the spokesperson state yesterday there is a million gallons of fuel on board. I would think they wouldn’t tow it out to sea. There is a news conference coming up again at 11 pacific time.
This was from yesterday where he mentioned the fuel

 

[depotoo]

Happening now, docked in San Diego

Pray for those Marines and sailors.

Yes, for everyone. There have been a total of 53 people treated now, I believe, from heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation, and the other injuries.

 

[depotoo]

Press conference: 5 sailors still hospitalized, but in stable condition. yes, ship is listing but they are countering the list. Whatever that means. The ships skin has burned(?) There are 2 decks between the fuel and the fire. Doing everything they can to keep it from traveling deeper. They said there were flames reported when the fire started, and to their knowledge there was no work being done in that area of the ship. Said they are doing all they can to try to save the ship.

 

[depotoo]

Anyone know what the ship’s skin is?

 

[NotYourBody]

Now I'm hearing that the bridge has collapsed and they are getting ready to tow her to sink at sea.

I don't know if that info is accurate.

I heard the spokesperson state yesterday there is a million gallons of fuel on board. I would think they wouldn’t tow it out to sea. There is a news conference coming up again at 11 pacific time.
This was from yesterday where he mentioned the fuel

There's lots of rumors going around. They are not getting ready to tow her and the bridge has not collapsed.

The ship has been in San Diego undergoing maintenance since 2018. This neighbor seems to be a little more reliable.

The fuel would be Kerosene, which can produce a black smoke when burned with insufficient oxygen. That could account for some of the smell. The ship may have been readying for sea trials and this will be a major setback. These ships are the combat system for a Marine Expeditionary Force, loaded with high tech equipment and communications. The smell could also mean that it is burning wire insulation in hundreds of cableways throughout the ship. Reports that the fire may continue to burn for a few days leads one to suspect that it is high tech wire insulation burning which could produce toxic smoke. Burning kerosene would be much easier to suppress.

 

[depotoo]

Now I'm hearing that the bridge has collapsed and they are getting ready to tow her to sink at sea.

I don't know if that info is accurate.

I heard the spokesperson state yesterday there is a million gallons of fuel on board. I would think they wouldn’t tow it out to sea. There is a news conference coming up again at 11 pacific time.
This was from yesterday where he mentioned the fuel

There's lots of rumors going around. They are not getting ready to tow her and the bridge has not collapsed.

The ship has been in San Diego undergoing maintenance since 2018. This neighbor seems to be a little more reliable.

The fuel would be Kerosene, which can produce a black smoke when burned with insufficient oxygen. That could account for some of the smell. The ship may have been readying for sea trials and this will be a major setback. These ships are the combat system for a Marine Expeditionary Force, loaded with high tech equipment and communications. The smell could also mean that it is burning wire insulation in hundreds of cableways throughout the ship. Reports that the fire may continue to burn for a few days leads one to suspect that it is high tech wire insulation burning which could produce toxic smoke. Burning kerosene would be much easier to suppress.

In the news conference when asked about the smell he mentioned the coatings on the wiring and cables could be it.

 

[beautress]

I can smell the fire from my house. It smells like chemicals and burning metal. They are saying we should stay inside.

The ship will burn to the water and is now starting to list.

This is all big news in my neighborhood. Lots of Navy people.View attachment 362784View attachment 362785View attachment 362788View attachment 362789View attachment 362791

Thanks for the pictures, NYB, and hope you and your family are safe from all the fuel burning in the air.

 

[beautress]

Happening now, docked in San Diego

Pray for those Marines and sailors.

Prayers up.

 

[Picaro]

Sad. I clicked in this story hoping to read it was out now and over, not about having to sink the ship. Best of luck to the saliors and civilian firefighters.

 

[beautress]

Anyone know what the ship’s skin is?

Its appearance that can be altered quickly and cosmetically as with paint.

 

[beagle9]

Now I'm hearing that the bridge has collapsed and they are getting ready to tow her to sink at sea.

I don't know if that info is accurate.

I heard the spokesperson state yesterday there is a million gallons of fuel on board. I would think they wouldn’t tow it out to sea. There is a news conference coming up again at 11 pacific time.
This was from yesterday where he mentioned the fuel

Towing would fan the flames right ??

 

[beagle9]

Reminds me of the USS Forestall. Tragic situation.

 

[depotoo]

They are stating on the news there on cbs 8, firefighters can no longer fight the fire on the ship, as it is burning too hot. They are stating that there is lots of black smoke again coming from it.

 

[depotoo]

Reminds me of the USS Forestall. Tragic situation.

Thank God it doesn’t have any loss of life like the Forrestal had.

 

[beagle9]

They are stating on the news there on cbs 8, firefighters can no longer fight the fire on the ship, as it is burning too hot. They are stating that there is lots of black smoke again coming from it.

What about fire fighting boats or tugs ?? Can't get in close enough ??

 

[Canon Shooter]

That is a pretty serious looking fire. Lots of things on an LHD that can go boom.

Yeah, they just reported they think there are 200 sailors on board, as,of this morning.

That's a lot less than usual, but i guess since the ship is in port maybe many of the sailors and marines are on leave or in barracks.

The only people on board would've been the duty section (that segment of the crew responsible for basic ship operations while pierside). Each duty section is "on duty" for a 24 hour period.

If you're stationed on a ship, you don't have barracks (unless the ship is being retrofitted, is in the yards, etc). Sailors and Marines either live on board or out in town. As this was a Sunday morning, they would've been operating under "holiday routine", which means that there's not a lot of work going on. Unfortunately, it can also mean that people assigned to the duty section are sleeping, working out in the ship's gym; anything but being primed and ready to quickly respond to an emergency such as this...

 

[Canon Shooter]

Fighting fires on those lower decks is an intimidating job; my sympathies go out to them. An old friend of mine was a fireman on a carrier, and it wasn't fun at all, even with no fires.

I'm not so sure that you can fight a fire below decks on own of those things without getting yourself killed. If the report that the fire has reached to fuel is correct, I just hope that every sailor gets the hell out of there before there is no way out.

It's intimidating as fuck.

Back in 1981, I was an STG3 onboard the USS Pigeon (ASR-21). Yeah, it's real:

We were sitting pierside in San Diego when a fire broke out in one of our AMR's (auxiliary machinery room). By the time the two hose teams made it to the door to enter the space, thick black smoke blinded us. The entire space was filled with smoke. We entered the space, hoses blazing, and somehow managed to extinguish the fire, despite not being able to see what we were doing.

The culprit? A small refrigerator in the office portion of the space had somehow caught fire. It was a small fire, to be sure, and it was pretty much contained to the refrigerator. But it only goes to show how something so relatively small can be so difficult to combat. I feel for the guys who were the first on scene.

Here's a photo of me (all of 19 years old) standing next to the suspect fridge:

 

[depotoo]

They have now set a 1 nautical mile perimeter with oil booms, and a 1 mile airspace perimeter as a precaution.