A fire that broke out Tuesday afternoon on board the dock landing ship Gunston Hall damaged a second-deck storeroom and cable-ways, a Navy official said Wednesday.
Lt. Mike Hatfield, a spokesman for Expeditionary Strike Group 2, said that initial damage assessments indicated the blaze was a Class Alpha, meaning a fire that burns normal combustible materials such as wood or paper.
It is too soon to know the full extent of the damage or how much the repairs will cost, Hatfield said, but more in-depth damage assessments are underway.
The ship, which is pierside at NASSCO/Earl Industries shipyards in Portsmouth, Va., reported a fire started in a storeroom at around 1:30 p.m. The in-port duty section responded to the fire initially, followed by the Portsmouth fire department, according to a Navy press release.
The fire was reported out at 5:25 that evening after "multiple units" of the Portsmouth Fire Department responded, the release said.
One civilian firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation, according to a source who spoke on background Tuesday evening.
According to an initial report of the fire obtained by Navy Times, officials suspect that a plasma cutter was the source of the fire, but an investigation is underway to pinpoint the cause.
David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.
