The fire on the universal landing ship USS Bonhomme Richard of the US Navy could be the result of arson. The investigation is leaning towards this version, NBC 7 reports.
Sources of the TV channel in the Pentagon claim that a suspect has already been found. It turned out to be a sailor who served on the ship.
According to Navy officials, this fire was one of the worst incidents that happened to warships outside of combat in recent years. In particular, rear Admiral Philip E. Sobek called the incident a “humiliating experience”.
After burning for four days, the USS Bonhomme Richard was extinguished on July 17. Fighting the fire was complicated by the fact that scaffolding, as well as other equipment and debris were in the way of firefighters. In addition, one of the ship’s fire extinguishing systems was disabled due to maintenance work.
At the time of the accident, 160 people were on Board Bonhomme Richard. At the same time, about a thousand soldiers are assigned to the paratrooper. During the fire, 60 people were injured.
It is still unclear whether the ship is subject to restoration. It is known that in the event of its irretrievable loss, the purchase of a similar vessel will cost the Navy four billion dollars.
On July 14, the military showed on video how the ship caught fire is extinguished from helicopters. It is reported that more than one and a half thousand buckets of water were poured on its deck. Because of the temperature of the flames, which reached thousands of degrees, firefighters worked in shifts — they needed to recover from overheating.