FIRE IN THE HOLD!
Multi-Agency Teams Fight Fire in the Bering Sea
By Ensign Piero Pecora, USCGC MORGENTHAU (WHEC 722)
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Lt. Greg Tozzi, Morgenthau's engineer officer, inspects a cargo hold |
The radio distress call came in to the Seventeenth District Command Center in Juneau, Alaska from the cargo ship Star Eagle. The ship reported that it had a fire burning out of control in the number one cargo hold. At the time, Star Eagle was 120 nautical miles northwest of Adak, a small outpost in the Aleutian Island chain. After discussing the situation with the master of the vessel, the command center directed the Star Eagle to reverse course and steam to Dutch Harbor. Morgenthau was diverted from its Bering Sea patrol to rendezvous and assist.
The two ships met west of Unalaska Island, near where the M/V Selendang Ayu met with disaster last winter. Morgenthau escorted the 590-foot long, 25,000 ton bulk cargo carrier and 19-man crew to safe anchorage in Captain’s Bay near Dutch Harbor. Thus began an intensive three-day, multi-agency effort to extinguish the fire and resolve an extremely dangerous situation.
Once the stricken vessel was safely anchored, the Morgenthau moored in Dutch Harbor and assumed the role of on scene commander. Combining forces with Marine Safety Office Anchorage, Marine Safety Detachment (MSD) Unalaska, a commercial salvage team from Resolve Marine Group (RMG), the Unalaska Fire Department, and the crew of the Star Eagle, the team developed a plan to suppress, attack, and extinguish the blaze, and developed contingency plans if the situation deteriorated.
The need for a safe and measured response was paramount in the minds of all involved as the cargo of compressed wood chips was still smoldering inside the hold. The professional salvors noted that they had experienced fires of this type burning for seven to 10 days. In addition, a previous cargo carried in the same hold created the possibility of a potentially explosive, highly toxic chemical cocktail. A team consisting of MSD Unalaska, RMG, and Morgenthau damage control experts was dispatched to determine the condition of the hold. |
| Morgenthau Firefighting equipment is prestaged pierside in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer Kristin McClain. |
"We really weren’t quite sure what we’d encounter," said Lt Greg Tozzi, Morgenthau’s engineering officer, "so we brought a wide range of equipment."
Morgenthau’s team set to the task of determining the status of the fire. Atmospheric tests were not encouraging – the fire had depleted the oxygen in the space and had given off a potent mix of deadly gasses. Temperature readings taken around the perimeter of the hold indicated that the fire might still have been smoldering inside.
One thing was clear, entering the hold at this point was far too dangerous; if oxygen reentered the smoldering compartment, an explosion could ensue. Chief Petty Officer Andy Sweeney, Morgenthau’s damage control chief, suited up in a self contained breathing aparatus and stood by to assist as RMG’s lead firefighter entered a ballast tank adjacent to the cargo hold to confirm what MSD Unalaska already suspected. The likely cause of the fire was a fresh weld on the cargo hold, made from a passageway below decks on the cargo hold’s exterior bulkhead. The teams agreed that the best course of action was to continue monitoring the situation until the heat and mix of gasses indicated that the hold could be opened without catastrophic consequences.
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| Ens. Tod Devries of CGC Morgenthau takes oxygen and dangerous gas readings with a four gas analyzer from a hold on the cargo ship Star Eagle. Photo by Petty Officer Kristin McClain. |
During the course of the next 48 hours, Morgenthau’s team made frequent trips to the Star Eagle.
"The extra CO2 that the crew was dumping into the space as directed by RMG was really having a positive effect," said Ensign Todd DeVries, Morgenthau’s damage control assistant.
By the end of the second day of the response, temperature readings also indicated that the smoldering remnants of the fire had likely died down enough to permit an attempt at entering the hold. That evening MSD Unalaska’s supervisor, Lt. Marty Teachout, directed that the Star Eagle move from anchorage to a commercial pier in Dutch Harbor in the morning, and the teams make preparations to enter the space at noon the next day.
"It was a cold and miserable day, but we were pretty charged up and ready for some action,."said Petty Officer Mike Ryan, a member of the Morgenthau response team. Thirty members of the Morgenthau’s crew, along with a full repair locker’s compliment of damage control equipment were moved to the pier in preparation for entering the hold.
"We had a lot of equipment on scene," said Tozzi, "we had to prepare for the worst."
Morgenthau’s team stood by and watched Star Eagle being gently moored to the pier. Because of their expertise with shipboard fire fighting procedures, Morgenthau teams were placed inside the ship in strategic locations ready to enter the space to fight any reflash/back draft resulting from the rapid reintroduction of oxygen into the 72,000 cubic-foot cargo hold. The Unalaska Fire Department hose teams remained topside near the cargo hatch and on the pier ready to respond. Once onboard, Morgenthau sailors set up P-100 pumps to provide water for two boundary teams and one attack team. Two of Morgenthau’s crew, Petty Officer Jesse Ridgeway and Fireman Tim Anderson, assisted RMG in the reentry while the hose teams and Chief Petty Officer Rebecca Vinlove stood by to provide medical response in case the fire re-flashed.
From the joint command post established on Star Eagle’s bridge, Teachout directed the efforts of the highly synchronized attack on the forward hold. Tozzi and Morgenthau damage control experts monitored the preparations, oversaw communications with the hose and pump teams, and talked through each stage of the operation with MSD, the master of the vessel, and the responding agencies. The reentry team checked carefully for any sign of air rushing into the hold to reignite the flames as they slowly began removing bolts on an access cover.
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| Crewmembers aboard the cargo ship Star Eagle inspect damaged cargo after a fire that broke out in one of the holds was extinquished by a teams from Unalaska Fire Department, Coast Guard and Resolve Marine Group. U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer Kristin McClain. |
"It was pretty intense," said Lt.j.g. Dehnz. "The hoses were charged, and we were watching closely for any sign of a reflash.
"We were inside the skin of the ship, standing there with my four-gas analyzer as they accessed the space, all we could hear was banging metal," said Petty Officer John White, who led a boundary team. "I reassured my team that everything was going to be OK."
With the bolts safely off, the reentry team directed the crew of the ship to remove the access cover with one of Star Eagle’s massive gantry cranes. Once the cover was removed, the team surveyed the hold with naval firefighting thermal imagers.
Fortunately, everything pointed to the fire being out. RMG directed the removal of the hold’s massive, 1,600 square foot cover allowing the teams their first real glimpse at the damage. More than 50 huge bales of pulp were charred and burned, as was the cargo hold’s bulkhead where MSD and RMG had discovered the fresh weld marks. Further investigation revealed that welding being done on an outer bulkhead adjacent to the hold caused the cargo inside to combust. The successful conclusion to a potentially extremely dangerous situation was the result of deliberate planning, open and frank communications, and resourceful deployment of resources.
According to Morgenthau’s commanding officer, Capt. Michael Sullivan, the operation provided an excellent opportunity to exercise joint operational and marine safety functions in a real world situation – and it worked.
"The combination of MSD technical knowledge and Morgenthau’s organic – and exportable – shipboard firefighting expertise resulted in delivering the right capabilities to the right place at the right time," said Sullivan.
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