Bob Hudson Posted July 12, 2020 Share #1 Posted July 12, 2020 It has been burning since early this morning, coming on 6-7 hours now. about 20 sailors have been injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share #2 Posted July 12, 2020 Navy says "fire was initially reported around 8:30 a.m." and it's now 3:30 pm, so 7 hours and the smoke is still billowing. From one angle it looked like there most smoke was coming out of the upwind part of the ship but there was also black smoke coming out of the downside side, which I think is the stern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share #3 Posted July 12, 2020 Here's a screen shot from a live video that was probably made from the Silver Strand which divides San Diego Bay from the ocean. It's done with a very strong telephoto lens, which compresses distance so that pleasure boats look a lot closer to the ship than they are (even so, the bay is not all that wide). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundance Posted July 13, 2020 Share #4 Posted July 13, 2020 I'll hope for the best and for no loss of life. As an aside, what is the ship in the foreground of the second photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky eagle Posted July 13, 2020 Share #5 Posted July 13, 2020 Let's All Pray for the Sailors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share #6 Posted July 13, 2020 9 minutes ago, sundance said: what is the ship in the foreground of the second photo? I think that is a Littoral combat ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted July 13, 2020 3 minutes ago, sky eagle said: Let's All Pray for the Sailors. It's been burning for 10 hours now, but there have been no additional injuries reported since this morning: 17 sailors and four civilians, none with life-threatening injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky eagle Posted July 13, 2020 Share #8 Posted July 13, 2020 Sorry for the injuries...but glad all are alive. Thanks for the update Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocCollector1441 Posted July 13, 2020 Share #9 Posted July 13, 2020 The Marine layer is bringing the smell of the fire pretty well inland. I can smell it and I am a good 15 miles away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share #10 Posted July 13, 2020 Still burning after almost 24 hours and it's reported the Navy expects it to take a couple more days for it to burn out. It's just after 7 am here in San Diego and live TV new report said the smoke appears darker this morning. The Navy has set up a one-mile perimeter around the ship so, which includes TV cameras. The footage this morning did show what looked like military helicopters with water drop bags attached: the Navy and Marines had used those before to help civilian agencies fight brush fires. I did some video a few years back showing how they pick up the water: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodymyster Posted July 13, 2020 Share #11 Posted July 13, 2020 That ship may or may have already passed to point of saving in terms of being able to restore to mission readiness. It may be cheaper to replace than restore. Interesting that the Chinese navy had a similar incident 3 months ago on one of their equivalent amphibious assault carriers. It it looks like the ship was undergoing repairs based on the appearance of the deck in the pictures. I know there were injured sailors and civies, but I'm so glad this ship wasent actively manned. Maybe an active crew could have put the fire out before it got out of hand, but I would not want to be there fighting that fire if I was on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share #12 Posted July 13, 2020 32 minutes ago, Woodymyster said: That ship may or may have already passed to point of saving in terms of being able to restore to mission readiness. It may be cheaper to replace than restore. Interesting that the Chinese navy had a similar incident 3 months ago on one of their equivalent amphibious assault carriers. It it looks like the ship was undergoing repairs based on the appearance of the deck in the pictures. I know there were injured sailors and civies, but I'm so glad this ship wasent actively manned. Maybe an active crew could have put the fire out before it got out of hand, but I would not want to be there fighting that fire if I was on board. They were undergoing maintenance so between that and the fact it was a weekend only about 20% of the crew was aboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share #13 Posted July 13, 2020 I live about 50 miles from Naval Base San Diego. When I stepped outside this morning my first thought was "Who spilled solvent on my patio?" That's what it smelled like. Then I glanced upwards to the sky and could see the smoke and realized I was smelling the fire. The Navy said yesterday that nothing toxic had burned, but if the smoke has a chemical-like smell, that is a sign of toxins. I had to drive 25 miles south this morning and all the way down I could see the the smoke settled in the canyons and valleys to the east of Interstate 5, in some places quite thick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVsubvet Posted July 13, 2020 Share #14 Posted July 13, 2020 The fire moved up the island and heats have become so extreme that structural steel is losing its integrity and shape. A sad day for the Gator Navy. God bless the Bonhomme Richard! -Joshua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share #15 Posted July 13, 2020 Just now, WVsubvet said: The fire moved up the island and heats have become so extreme that structural steel is losing its integrity and shape. A sad day for the Gator Navy. God bless the Bonhomme Richard! -Joshua I had wondered if the helicopter water drops were more for keeping things cooled down rather than extinguishing the fire itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share #16 Posted July 13, 2020 Besides pumping water on to the fire, they also have to pump it out: it looks like that fire boat pumping water into the bay is being used a bilge pump. This image is from 11:45 AM California time on Monday, about 27 hours since the fire began. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share #17 Posted July 13, 2020 20 minutes ago, WVsubvet said: The fire moved up the island and heats have become so extreme that structural steel is losing its integrity and shape. A sad day for the Gator Navy. God bless the Bonhomme Richard! -Joshua Does it look like some of the island towers are leaning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted July 13, 2020 Share #18 Posted July 13, 2020 USS BONHOMME RICHARD is on fire in San Diego - LIVE STREAM on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIGgDuZ-JbA I would suggest that you click on the fullscreen icon to avoid the idiotic commentary by the masses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted July 13, 2020 Share #19 Posted July 13, 2020 The island mast is visibily melting and collapsing now.......soon to be a total loss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVsubvet Posted July 13, 2020 Share #20 Posted July 13, 2020 3 hours ago, Salvage Sailor said: The island mast is visibily melting and collapsing now.......soon to be a total loss Per Navy Times one hour ago the forward mast has collapsed. Heartbreaking. -Joshua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share #21 Posted July 14, 2020 1 hour ago, WVsubvet said: Per Navy Times one hour ago the forward mast has collapsed. Heartbreaking. -Joshua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVsubvet Posted July 14, 2020 Share #22 Posted July 14, 2020 Scorched. Forward mast also visible. -Joshua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share #23 Posted July 14, 2020 Navy Times reports: "...all five personnel who were hospitalized due to injuries suffered while fighting the blaze have been released, according to the Navy. In total, the Navy said 36 sailors and 23 civilians were treated for “minor injuries” such as heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation in the aftermath of the fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted July 14, 2020 Share #24 Posted July 14, 2020 Heard is was caused by a welder... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share #25 Posted July 14, 2020 Anyone know what kind of impact 1,000 degree heat has on the hull plates? It's hard to imagine they can fix this up. Before returning to the Navy pier where she has been burning, she had a $249 million upgrade at the nearby General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard, which - FYI - is where they fixed the Exxon Valdez after she spilled all that oil in Alaska. The Valdez dumped 10-40 million gallons: the B-R has "only" one million gallons of fuel onboard but if that spilled into the narrow confines of San Diego Bay it would be tragic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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