21 people injured in navy ship fire in San Diego

A fire broke out on the USS Bonhomme Richard at the US Naval base in San Diego on Sunday, the Navy said.

Seventeen sailors and four civilians were being treated at a hospital for injuries that were described as not life-threatening, the Navy said.

An explosion occurred after the fire started, and the ship was evacuated. Smoke was billowing from the middle of the ship, although it was unclear where the fire started or what the source of the explosion was.

About 160 sailors were aboard the ship when the fire was first reported about 8.30 am local time, the Navy said.

The Bonhomme Richard is an amphibious assault ship capable of carrying helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. It was docked at the base in San Diego for scheduled maintenance between deployments, said Krishna Jackson, a Navy spokeswoman.

The ship has light arms but would not normally have large explosive munitions, such as airdropped bombs, on board while docked, Jackson said.

The sailors assigned to it were staying in Navy or private housing on shore and were not on board when the fire started, she said.

A “duty section” of sailors trained to fight fires was on board when the fire started, she said, and they were the first to respond.

It was not immediately clear how the fire started. The San Diego Fire Department was working with the Navy to fight the fire, a spokeswoman for the department said.

Eric A Dukat, a retired US Navy commander who is now an associate professor in the College of Maritime Operational Warfare at the US Naval War College, said sailors are thoroughly equipped to handle fires on ships.

“Everyone gets trained to be a firefighter, flooding stopper — all the damage control — and that’s because when you’re out at sea, there’s nobody coming to you,” he said.

Dukat said fires on ships “are not like a house fire” and present a unique hazard because of the rising heat inside the vessel and the intense steam that is produced when water is used.

“Imagine a fire inside of a ship, just imagine the inside of your oven,” he said.