PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – The Navy’s response to a fire that crippled a nuclear submarine at a shipyard showed that it had become complacent about safety and put too much faith in land-based firefighters who had never trained to battle such a blaze, Navy investigators concluded.
The investigators also said there was confusion at the start of the May 2012 fire at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and that there were two hour-long periods in which no water was being put on the flames.
The conclusions were included in more than 100 pages of documents obtained by The Associated Press via a Freedom of Information Act request.
It took 12 hours and the efforts of more than 100 firefighters to save the Groton, Connecticut-based USS Miami after a worker who wanted to go home early set a small fire that quickly spread. Though the sub was saved, the Navy ultimately decided to scrap it after the repair bill hit $700 million.
The fire severely damaged living quarters, the command and control center and a torpedo room, but it did not reach the nuclear propulsion components. Seven people were hurt dousing the flames.