By Lance Cpl. Shane T. Beaubien
Firefighters with the Combat Center Fire Department battled a vehicle fire burning next to the Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital on base about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“It seemed like it was a pretty typical vehicle fire, we soon realized it wasn’t,” said Assistant Fire Chief Steven Frank, Chief of Operations, Base Fire Department. “We had a couple of explosions happen while we were there.”
The call came in at 12:39 p.m.; a vehicle fire was raging approximately 300 feet from the Naval Hospital in the employee parking area with the potential to spread to the vehicles parked on either side. Engine 451R was first to arrive on the scene, quickly beginning to hose down the fire, followed by Assistant Chief 451, Medic Truck 451, and Medic Ambulance 451.
“We soon realized we had gasoline pouring out of the bottom of the vehicle, and that required a little bit more tenacity,” said Frank. “We realized we were going to need some powder extinguishers because of the flammability; it’s a different kind of fire when you have just plastics and rubber burning.”
The Base Public Works Division and National Resource Environmental Agency were called in to help contain the runoff mixture from the gasoline, water, and foam. The Provost Marshal’s Office was also on scene to ward off traffic and conduct their own investigation.
By 3:33 p.m., engines had left the scene after approximately three hours of battling the flames and conducting thorough checks throughout the rest of the vehicle.
The damage to the adjacent vehicles was minimal and no injuries occurred, however the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
