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2 dozen sailors treated after carrier fire

A fire broke out aboard the carrier George Washington on Thursday morning as it transited off the west coast of South America, according to a Navy spokesman. One sailor received first-degree burns and 23 others were treated for heat stress.

The fire was detected in the vicinity of the ship’s aft air conditioning and refrigeration space and auxiliary boiler room, and occurred while the ship was passing fuel to the frigate Crommelin, said Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon. He added that the fire spread to several spaces via the ship’s cableway, causing “extreme heat” in some spaces. The crew initiated an emergency breakaway from the frigate once smoke was detected, he said.

While Davis could not yet say how long the fire raged, the crew was at general quarters for more than 11 hours.

At this point, the fire appears to have mostly affected the ship’s communications systems. The propulsion plant was not damaged and there are no reactor safety issues, Davis said.

“Fires at sea are taken very seriously,” he said. “Every single crew member onboard a Navy ship is trained on firefighting and prepared to respond to this kind of incident.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and is not at this point expected to affect the ship’s schedule.

The ship’s next stop is San Diego before heading to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where it will conduct a crew turnover with the carrier Kitty Hawk next month. From there, the GW will head to its new homeport of Yokosuka, Japan, where it will become the Navy’s only Japan-based carrier, replacing the Kitty Hawk.

The George Washington has been at sea since April 7, when it left its old homeport of Norfolk, Va., in preparation for the trip around South America on its way to the Pacific.