17 Sailors, 4 Civilians Injured in Fire Aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego

Bonhomme Richard fire — A three-alarm fire aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego on July 12, 2020, injured several sailors. (Photo: Facebook)

Military.com | By Gina Harkins

Published July 12, 2020

This story was updated Sunday evening.

More than a dozen sailors are being treated for minor injuries after a three-alarm fire broke out Sunday on an amphibious assault ship docked in San Diego.

The fire started at about 8:30 a.m., Naval Surface Forces officials said. Seventeen sailors and four civilians were transferred to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Mike Raney, a Naval Surface Force for U.S. Pacific Fleet, said. The entire crew is accounted for and off the ship.

Initial reports from Naval Surface Forces said 18 sailors were hurt in the fire.

The cause of the blaze is unknown, but the San Diego Fire Department tweeted Sunday afternoon that there was an explosion aboard the ship. Videos of the fire shared by the department show thick black smoke billowing from the ship.

Navy officials did not immediately respond to questions about the types of injuries the sailors suffered. The city fire department said the injuries varied in nature.

It's not immediately clear where the sailors are being treated.

There were about 160 people on the Bonhomme Richard when the fire started, according to Naval Surface Forces. The ship has a crew of about 1,000.

The amphib is docked at Naval Base San Diego, where it's undergoing routine maintenance. Local, base and shipboard firefighting teams responded to the blaze, Naval Surface Forces tweeted.

Two other ships, including one that recently returned to San Diego after years of maintenance following a fatal collision, were moved away from the Bonhomme Richard at about 1 p.m., Raney said. The destroyers Fitzgerald and Russell shifted berths to a pier further away from the fire, he said.

The Russell returned from a deployment last week.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

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Related Topics: Military Headlines US Navy Topics Naval Base San Diego Amphibious Ships

Gina Harkins

Gina Harkins previously covered the Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard for Military.com. She has covered troops and their families for nearly a decade, reporting from the U.S., Central and South America, and at sea. Before joining Military.com, Gina was a longtime reporter and managing editor for the independent Marine Corps Times. Her story on two recruits trapped at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina was runner up for the 2013 Military Reporters and Editors award for domestic military coverage. She holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and studied political science and international relations in her undergrad at Northeastern Illinois University. Read Full Bio

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