The Washington Department of Ecology tweeted this picture of unified command response efforts
Residents in areas of Tacoma, Wash., had been underneath a shelter in place order yesterday as a unified command continued its response to a significant fishing vessel fireplace.
The vessel, the 1977-built, 276 foot lengthy King Seafoods catcher processor Kodiak Enterprise ,caught fireplace round 3.20 a.m., Saturday morning whereas moored on the seafood firm’s facility on the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma.
KIRO 7 TV quotes Trident Seafoods stated there have been three folks on board the ship when the hearth began however they made it out safely with none accidents.
According to the unified command, which incorporates the Tacoma Fire Department, the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington Department of Ecology and different companies, the hearth has progressed all through the ship and as of yesterday was inside 100 toes of the vessel’s freon tanks.
The vessel is reported to have an estimated 55,000 gallons of diesel and 19,000 kilos of freon onboard. The warmth from the hearth may cause strain to construct within the freon tanks.
The freon tanks are designed with built-in heat-activated strain reduction valves that are designed to launch the freon tanks’ strain in an emergency scenario. While freon might be poisonous if inhaled in giant portions or in a confined area, the discharge of freon into the ambiance shouldn’t be anticipated to pose any well being and security dangers to the general public.
As a precautionary measure, the EPA has been conducting air monitoring to evaluate air high quality within the surrounding areas and yesterday they had been being augmented by contractors to additional refine air monitoring capabilities.
To guarantee the security of the general public, the City of Tacoma Fire Department issued a short lived shelter in place order for N.E. Tacoma, Browns Point and Dash Point neighborhoods. Residents had been suggested to stay indoors and restrict exposures to smoke.
In addition, the Coast Guard closed the Hylebos Waterway to all business and leisure vessel visitors.
“The safety of the public and responders is our top priority,” stated Coast Guard Capt. Youngmee Moon, the federal on scene coordinator. “The unified command is working closely to leverage each agency’s capabilities to respond to this incident as effectively as possible and keep the public safe.”
Responders have been persevering with to combat the hearth by offering cooling spray to the outside of the vessel.
There aren’t any reported indicators of maritime air pollution. As a safety measure, responders have deployed three layers of containment increase across the vessel to guard the marine setting. As a precautionary measure the unified command has additionally deployed three skimmers and three increase boats.
The reason behind the incident is underneath investigation. Additional updates will probably be launched as they turn into out there.
“We want to thank everyone for their prompt response and support,” stated Joe Bundrant, CEO of Trident Seafoods. “This has been a challenging containment issue and we appreciate the ongoing efforts over this Easter weekend.”
Tacoma was additionally the scene of a February 2021 fishing vessel fireplace involving one other Trident Seafoods vessel, the Aleutian Falcon. That fireplace burned for 4 days and occurred whereas the vessel was in a shipyard present process repairs. The National Transportation Safety Board discovered that the almost definitely trigger was insufficient scorching work supervision.
