Firefighters injured in blast while battling fire aboard cargo ship

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While battling a large fire aboard a cargo ship at Blount Island, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said an explosion occurred, injuring firefighters, News 6 sister station News 4 Jax reports.

According to Fire Chief Keith Powers, eight firefighters were injured in the explosion, and an additional firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion. During a news briefing at 10:15 p.m., Powers said the eight firefighters hurt in the blast were in stable condition.

“It’s a tough situation and very dangerous -- that’s one of the most dangerous situations firefighters encounter is when they’re in a ship fire,” Powers said.

Crews with the U.S. Coast Guard were seen in the river late at night spraying the ship with water along the exterior of the hull.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry asked for prayers from the local community:

According to Powers, the fire started on the seventh deck of the ship. Approximately 120 JFRD personnel were sent to battle the initial fire. The ship was loaded with automobiles.

Firefighters closed the ship’s dampers to starve the fire of oxygen. At about 6:45 p.m., the explosion that injured the firefighters occurred.

Captain Mark Vlaun with the U.S. Coast Guard said the number one goal for crews throughout the night was to maintain the structural integrity of the ship.

“The effort really remains, one, of trying to protect the environment and to control and contain the fire as best we can to ensure that we don’t lose the structural integrity and risk having any pollution out in the water,” Vlaun said.

According to Vlaun, an oil spill response team was being brought in by Resolve Marine.

“They’ll be putting an oil boom around the vessel to contain the threat of any pollution,” he said. “At this point, we do not have any pollution from or spill associated with this fire, but out of caution, we are going to begin booming the vessel, so that if there is any pollution at any point that we’ll be able to contain that spill.”

The injured firefighters were not identified. Of the eight who where hospitalized, Powers said as of 10:15 p.m. that:

• Four were taken to a burn unit in Gainesville
• One was undergoing surgery
• One was in an intensive care unit
• Two were on the trauma floor at UF Health

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office shared well-wishes on Twitter:

WJXT News for Jax reported on this story