Aerial view of the fire extinguishing attempts aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard. Screen grab from youtube.
At approximately 8:30 a.m. today, a fire was located aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard as it was moored pier side at the Naval Base San Diego, according to a tweet by the Naval Surface Forces account. The account noted there were 160 sailors aboard at the time.
The San Diego Fire Department (SDFD) was requested to assist federal fire services at approximately 9 a.m. today.
According to the SDFD’s Twitter account, they are functioning in a unified command with federal firefighters. The Naval Surface Forces tweeted, “Local, base, and shipboard fire fighting teams are responding to a fire aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) located on Naval Base San Diego.”
CBS 8 San Diego’s news crew caught one of the massive explosions heard during attempts to extinguish the fire.
SDFD firefighters were asked to exit the pier and move back from the ship at approximately 12:05 p.m. local time. The Naval Surface Forces tweeted that the entire USS Bonhomme Richard crew is off the ship and accounted for; 18 sailors were transported to a nearby hospital for minor injuries.
The U.S. Navy and the San Diego Fire Department did not respond to requests for more information at the time of publication.
Joshua Skovlund is a former staff writer for Coffee or Die. He covered the 75th anniversary of D-Day in France, multinational military exercises in Germany, and civil unrest during the 2020 riots in Minneapolis. Born and raised in small-town South Dakota, he grew up playing football and soccer before serving as a forward observer in the US Army. After leaving the service, he worked as a personal trainer while earning his paramedic license. After five years as in paramedicine, he transitioned to a career in multimedia journalism. Joshua is married with two children.
