Carrier arrives in San Diego for fire repairs

Crew members aboard the carrier George Washington fight a fire that spread to several spaces via cableways, creating extreme heat and smoke.


Carrier arrives in San Diego for fire repairs
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 28, 2008 15:17:11 EDT

NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND, Calif. — The aircraft carrier George Washington pulled into a berth here Tuesday evening for an undetermined stay while shipyard repair teams inspect, assess and fix damage caused by last week’s fire that slightly injured two dozen sailors.

The May 22 fire broke out near the aft refrigeration and air conditioning space and auxiliary boiler room aboard the nuclear-powered ship, which on April 7 left its former Norfolk, Va., homeport to join the Navy’s forward-deployed forces in Japan.

One sailor suffered first-degree burns and 23 others were treated for heat stress and smoke inhalation during the fire, but there were no serious injuries, Navy officials said.

The fire, which the skipper described as “significant,” had started near an auxiliary boiler space and spread through a cable supply and exhaust trunk. Capt. Dave Dykhoff, George Washington’s commanding officer called it “probably the worst one I’ve been involved with.”

George Washington was at sea doing a replenishment with the frigate Crommelin off the coast of South America when the fire broke out at about 7:50 a.m. May 22. The carrier at the time was en route to a scheduled stop in San Diego after visiting the Chilean port city of Valparaiso.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/05/navy_gwfire_052808w/