US: Navy report cites failures by crew in 2020 warship fire, says it was 'preventable'

An elaborate US Navy report, on Tuesday, concluded there were sweeping failures by commanders, crew members and others that fuelled the arson fire at the USS Bonhomme Richard in July 2020. The 400-page document, which was obtained by Associated Press on Tuesday, described inaction by at least three dozen crew members leading to the colossal fire that annihilated the much-vaunted American warship. On July 12 last year, an arson by a sailor set the amphibious assault ship on fire. The blazes not only charred the giant ship but also inflicted injuries on 63 sailors and civilians. While the fire was extinguished in four days, it left the ship severely damaged. Owing to huge repair costs (US$3.2 billion), USS Bonhomme Richard was decommissioned on April 15  and sold for scrap. 

The incident also triggered a full-fledged investigation and ultimately led to a sailor being charged for arson. Now, the latest report has said that the disaster was 'preventable and totally unacceptable'. “Although the fire was started by an act of arson, the ship was lost due to an inability to extinguish the fire,” the report said, concluding that “repeated failures” by an “inadequately prepared crew” delivered “an ineffective fire response.” As per the investigative report, there were four main ‘areas of failure’ including the ship’s dysfunctional fire station, the unpreparedness of the crew, lack of familiarity of the offshore firefighters with the ship and ineffective oversights by high-level commanders. 

“The crew had failed to meet the time standard for applying firefighting agent on the seat of the fire on 14 consecutive occasions leading up to July 12, 2020,” the latest report concluded.

USS Bonhomme Richard Arson 

The massive blaze occurred on the morning of July 12, in a storage area above where Marine Corps vehicles are mostly stored on the USS Bonhomme Richard that looks like an aircraft carrier. As per reports, sailors were starting to fight the fire when a subsequent blast caused the vessel to be evacuated. The devastating fire quickly grew, spreading to the ship’s hangar deck, where it spread through most of the ship’s upper decks and continued to grow with great force. The massive blaze raged for five days before it was finally doused. Reportedly, the navy officials at that time said that when the flames were at their peak, the temperatures reached as high as 1,200 degrees.

With inputs from AP 

File Image: AP