Navy says ship fire was preventable

SAN DIEGO — A fire aboard the nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier resulted from a failure to properly store hazardous materials and other missteps that allowed the fire to burn unchecked for more than eight hours, Navy investigators found.

The report, released by the Pacific Fleet command, found that at least a month before the May 22 fire, the USS George Washington's chief engineer reported finding more than 300 gallons of flammable liquid improperly stored on the carrier.

The report found the carrier's damage control team took nearly eight hours to discover the source of smoke and flames. By the time the team discovered the fire, it had burned through eight decks of the carrier and damaged 80 compartments.

The Navy estimates the cost to repair the carrier was $70 million.

"This fire was entirely preventable," Adm. Robert Willard, the Pacific Fleet commander, wrote in an addendum to the report.

The report said the carrier's damage control department, which includes its firefighting unit, had been given poor marks on performance and training practices during three inspections in the months before the fire.

"The extent of damage to the USS George Washington could have been reduced had numerous long-standing firefighting and firefighting management deficiencies been corrected," Willard wrote.

Willard in July ordered the carrier's commanding officer and executive officer be relieved of duty. He also recommended disciplinary action against 11 officers and 12 enlisted sailors, most of them in the departments of engineering and hazardous materials.

But Navy officials punished only six enlisted crew members, said Mark Matsunaga, a Pacific Fleet spokesman. None of those punished were court-martialed.

Pacific Fleet officials did not immediately answer an Associated Press request as to why no further or more severe punishments were meted out despite the severity of the report's findings.

Citing privacy restrictions, Matsunaga would not give the names, positions or ranks of those cited and wouldn't disclose the punishments.

The estimated cost to repair the boat does not include the cost to house the crew in San Diego for two months while repairs were made, nor does it include the cost of keeping the USS Kitty Hawk, the last conventionally-fueled carrier, at sea for two months to cover for the George Washington. Pacific Fleet said those costs had not been completely tallied, and would not comment on an estimate.

The carrier was en route from Chile to San Diego when the fire began. Earlier, investigators said unauthorized smoking in a space where there were improperly stored hazardous materials was the likely cause of the fire.

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