Cargo Ship Explosion In Jacksonville, Nine Firefighters Injured
JACKSONVILLE (CBSMiami/AP) - Nine firefighters were injured after an explosion on a cargo ship in Jacksonville.
The ship was docked at Blount Island, a port within the city limits
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said it got a call about the fire on board the ship around 4 p.m. Thursday.
As they tried to starve the fire of oxygen, an explosion occurred.
The explosion occurred nearly three hours after firefighters first responded to the ship. The ship, a Norwegian vessel called Hoegh Xiamen was carrying old and used cars and had been scheduled to leave Jacksonville.
More than 20 crew members on the ship during the initial fire were able to safely get off before the explosion occurred, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, and the blast happened with "crews inside fighting fire," Jacksonville Fire Chief Keith Powers said.
Of the nine firefighters hospitalized, four were treated for burns, one was taken into surgery for injuries Thursday night and another firefighter has been in intensive care, news outlets reported. All firefighters were stable, Powers said.
"Burns take a lot time to heal," Powers said. "Please everyone, keep them in your prayers. They'll need a lot of that."
Nearly 150 firefighters were continuing to rotate in teams to battle the blaze abroad the ship, Powers said.
"This is one of the days where you roll up on something like this and it's one of the worst things probably in a career that you will ever do," Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters President Randy Wyse told the Florida Times-Union.
Wyse, who said he spoke to the injured firefighters after the explosion, said they have "a long recovery ahead of them."
The shipping company thanked the fire department in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those firefighters and their families who were injured during this response."
Investigators are trying to determine what caused the fire.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
