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ESQUIMALT, B.C. - A Canadian navy warship stranded in the
Pacific Ocean was expected to be towed to Hawaii after an engine- room fire significantly damaged the vessel and injured about 20 sailors, the navy said Friday. HMCS Protecteur, a 44-year-old supply ship, was in the Pacific Ocean, north of Hawaii, on Thursday night when the fire
broke out. The ship was on its way to its home port of Esquimalt, B.C. The crew put out the flames and the ship was stabilized, though it had limited power, said Commodore Bob Auchterlonie, the
commander of the navy's Pacific fleet. Auchterlonie called the fire a "serious event," noting the large engine room contained a lot of fuel. "Picture an elementary school gymnasium — three stories high, made of medal with a lot of machinery inside of that — and that space was on fire," he said Friday at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, west of Victoria. "This was a worst-case scenario, a major machinery space fire, hundreds of miles from anywhere, and this ship defended itself on its own." Auchterlonie commended the crew, who he said battled the fire over a significant period of time and saved the vessel. He said roughly 20 people suffered minor injuries while
fighting the blaze.
"There was dehydration, there was exhaustion, there was smoke inhalation, and that's what the nature of the injuries were," he said. "Fortunately, we have a doctor on board, we have physician assistance on board, and we're aware all these people have been treated."
Auchterlonie said the fire
extensively damaged the
machinery that controls the
vessel's propulsion, forcing the ship to stop in the water about 630 kilometres north of Hawaii.
Read more here:
Minor injuries, undetermined damage after fire aboard HMCS Protecteur off Hawaii | GlobalPost
Pacific Ocean was expected to be towed to Hawaii after an engine- room fire significantly damaged the vessel and injured about 20 sailors, the navy said Friday. HMCS Protecteur, a 44-year-old supply ship, was in the Pacific Ocean, north of Hawaii, on Thursday night when the fire
broke out. The ship was on its way to its home port of Esquimalt, B.C. The crew put out the flames and the ship was stabilized, though it had limited power, said Commodore Bob Auchterlonie, the
commander of the navy's Pacific fleet. Auchterlonie called the fire a "serious event," noting the large engine room contained a lot of fuel. "Picture an elementary school gymnasium — three stories high, made of medal with a lot of machinery inside of that — and that space was on fire," he said Friday at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, west of Victoria. "This was a worst-case scenario, a major machinery space fire, hundreds of miles from anywhere, and this ship defended itself on its own." Auchterlonie commended the crew, who he said battled the fire over a significant period of time and saved the vessel. He said roughly 20 people suffered minor injuries while
fighting the blaze.
"There was dehydration, there was exhaustion, there was smoke inhalation, and that's what the nature of the injuries were," he said. "Fortunately, we have a doctor on board, we have physician assistance on board, and we're aware all these people have been treated."
Auchterlonie said the fire
extensively damaged the
machinery that controls the
vessel's propulsion, forcing the ship to stop in the water about 630 kilometres north of Hawaii.
Read more here:
Minor injuries, undetermined damage after fire aboard HMCS Protecteur off Hawaii | GlobalPost
