http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/07/navy-miami-submarine-maine-fire-arrest-072312/ BTW, the firefighters (both crewmen and civilian) did a heckuva job. Tight spaces, raging heat in confined areas and a 12-hr blaze and they still saved the ship. Too bad it wasn't until some heavy damage had been done to her.
Sorry to hear about it, Brian. I'm sure the crew and fire fighters are drilled on fighting fires like this. Looks like it paid off.
Actually, it's not drilled on much at all. In the shipyards, only about 1/3 of the crew is there, anyway, and the ship is in nowhere near the materiel condition that it normally is. For instance, fire hoses connected to the trim and drain system aren't because you're in drydock, so you're working with a temporary system. The piping may be cut out to bring in a new piece of machinery, or you may have hull cuts to facilitate access. You're not working on a clean, everything-in-its-place at-sea environment, you're in a shipyard with piping, hoses, welding leads, etc. all over the place. Your designated fire teams that you've been training with for months aren't all there, and when the civilians come down you've never worked with them. All in all, it was a great job to save the ship, but it all happened not because safety procedures weren't being followed or there was an industrial accident, but b/c some guy having a bad day decided to literally burn up $400M.
