Sailors and Federal Firefighters combat a fire onboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) at Naval Base San Diego, July 12, 2020. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Christina Ross/Released)
gCaptain: Fire, Fire, Fire: How Navy Failures Destroyed the Bonhomme Richard
A guy with a flag simulates a flame, and a nozzleman says…I am squirting you with water…and then they say…fire is out.”
This statement by a Navy sailor is found in the recently released Navy report on the USS Bonhomme Richard fire and typifies how many of the firefighting drills were conducted for the crew before the catastrophic fire, lasting five days, destroyed the ship in July 2020.
In addition to poorly run and deficient drills, many of the ship’s crew had not donned Self- Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) in over a year, did not know how to use or activate Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) or halogenated hydrocarbon (Halon) firefighting systems, and were unaware of where to locate and use Emergency Escape Breathing Apparatus (EEBA).
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WNU Editor: Another sobering rad on US Navy failures.