
Sunday the USS Bonhomme Richard experienced a large explosion and a three alarm fire that sent 21 soldiers to the hospital Heavy.com reported. The “assault vehicle” will likely burn to the water according to Tim Arvier a reporter for @9newsAus.
The fire is certainly not calming down at this point. They may be letting it burn unfortunately. https://t.co/wW2Dc2YxBJ
— Sentinel (@StratSentinel) July 12, 2020
According to the San Diego Fire Department’s Twitter the first call came in around 9 am PST. In another tweet from the SDFD they reported that the next alarm came in at 9:09 AM and the third alarm was called in at 9:51 AM.
SDFD was requested by Federal Fire at about 9am. #shipfire pic.twitter.com/Ah6GRzpJHJ
— SDFD (@SDFD) July 12, 2020
A second alarm was called at 9:09 am. The third alarm was called at 9:51 am. #shipfire pic.twitter.com/FggyTflxUp
— SDFD (@SDFD) July 12, 2020
Stars and Stripes reported “The cause of the fire was under investigation. It wasn’t immediately known where on the 840-foot amphibious assault vessel the blast and the fire occurred.” Admiral Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations announced that all on board at the time had been accounted for. According to Stars and Stripes “The 23-year-old ship has the capacity to deploy and land helicopters, smaller boats and amphibious vehicles.”.
Early this year, almost three months to the day (April 11 2020), the same kind of ship experienced a very similar incident while being assembled in Shanghai China for the Chinese Communist Party. It is unclear if the two events are related or just an odd coincidence.
According to the globaltimes.cn “ China’s first Type 075 amphibious assault ship reportedly caught on fire on Saturday at the Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai. Although thick smoke was seen on the ship, sources in the know said the accident was not significant and will not wield any major impact on further construction.”
According the reports that came out of China at the time, it seems the USS Bonhomme Richard has sustained much more damage. Reporter John Dissauer tweeted that the fire could continue on for days.
“This fire could go on for days.”- San Diego Fire Dept Chief Colin Stowell
— John Dissauer (@johndissauer) July 12, 2020