HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding and the Navy are investigating the cause of a fire on the future USS Bougainville (LHA-8), the shipyard said Friday.
The America-class big-deck amphibious ship, which is under construction at Ingalls in Pascagoula, Miss., experienced a fire that “was localized to a small number of compartments,” a shipyard spokesperson told USNI News.
“During second shift on Thursday evening, Ingalls fire and safety personnel responded to a call from Bougainville (LHA 8) for a fire in the superstructure,” Kimberly Aguillard said in a statement.
“The fire was extinguished and two shipbuilders were transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation and were released later in the evening. Four other shipbuilders were treated for smoke inhalation onsite. No additional injuries have been reported.”
While the investigation is ongoing, hot work is the suspected cause of the fire, Aguillard said.
“Our shipbuilders responded immediately and within a short amount of time the fire was extinguished. A full review of the events, including a detailed timeline, is under development,” Aguillard said.
“Initial indications are that damage is limited to the immediately impacted compartments and no damage to the remainder of the ship nor the shipyard was incurred.”
Ingalls, which builds the Navy’s amphibious assault ships, landing platform docks and guided-missile destroyers, has its own fire department within the shipyard.
Aguillard said smoke from the fire was “significant, but largely limited to the affected compartments.”
Ingalls started fabrication onย Bougainville in October 2018, and the ship is expected to launch this year. The ship was designed to accommodate the Marine Corps’ F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters.
