Firefighters contain cargo ship fire at Port of Los Angeles
Crews have contained the cargo ship fire that prompted shelter-in-place orders at the Port of Los Angeles last Friday.
The U.S. Coast Guard fully contained the fire on One Henry Hudson at about 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Crews implemented "mitigating measures" for the time being, as they could not access the containers to confirm that the fires were completely out.
"Now that the fire is determined to be contained there will be a waiting period to ensure no re-flashes, or heat signatures are detected," U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Stacey Crecy said. "Following the waiting period, crews will conduct a stability analysis of the vessel to determine it's safe for transit back to the pier and the cargo can be offloaded."
The Los Angeles Fire Department said an electrical fire started a little after 6:30 p.m. below deck of the container ship docked at the Port of LA. LAFD issued a shelter-in-place order for the area surrounding the fire, which was lifted on Saturday.
As the firefighting campaign continued, crews moved the ship away to just off the coast of the port. A salvage group plans to bring the vessel back to an approved facility at the Port of LA.
The Coast Guard said firefighting water has been contained within the vessel's cargo hold and has not been released into the ocean. Crews plan to empty the used water via barge or truck and transport it to a waste facility under Coast Guard supervision.
"Everyone from the salvage operations to the Unified Command and all the supporting agencies are working together to ensure safety of the community, the Port and the response crew," said Los Angeles Port Police Captain Dan Cobos.
