The incredible response to the USS Miami fire
By U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe
(R-Maine)
At approximately 5:41 p.m. on May 23rd a four-alarm fire broke out inside the forward compartment of the USS Miami (SSN 755), a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarine which was 3 months into a 20-month overhaul at Kittery-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. More than 100 first responders from 23 locations in 4 separate states responded to successfully contain the damage of the blaze and ensure that there was no tragic loss of life. I was honored to lead my Senate colleagues from New England recently in passing Senate Resolution 488, which recognized the incredible courage and tremendous skill of the firefighters and emergency first responders who extinguished the fire.
With nothing less than fearless determination in the face of what has been called the most significant emergency to strike the shipyard in decades, brave firefighters battled zero visibility in tight, obstructed quarters filled with noxious smoke and searing heat for more than ten hours to limit the fire to the forward quarters of the ship and eventually extinguish it entirely.
Due to the unimaginably challenging space constraints, Kittery-Portsmouth firefighters, in a command capacity and with a succinct collaborative effort with shipyard project team personnel, directed the rotation of multiple waves of groups of only three or four firefighters at a time to descend two stories into the ship to push back the flames. Their critical decision to immediately request assistance from mutual aid communities up and down the coast ensured sufficient manpower to sustain the continuous delivery of roughly three million gallons of water and fire suppressants needed to tame the blaze.
The integration of firefighters from so many seacoast communities from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut was seamless, and should be held as an example of successful inter-jurisdictional cooperation that could be used as a model for similar emergencies in the future. Furthermore, the fact that each and every one of these exceptional firefighters, many of whom had no prior experience aboard a submarine, could walk into such an extraordinarily difficult situation and perform so successfully is a testament to their exhaustive training, remarkable abilities and undaunted valor.
Due to their inspirational efforts, with only seven responders suffering minor injuries, the fire and all subsequent damage was greatly limited, and the ship’s nuclear reactor remained safe and stable throughout. After the fire, I had the privilege of meeting some of the firefighters who summoned unparalleled bravery and demonstrated such tenacity and skill in preventing the potentially catastrophic escalation of this fire. These men and women represent the very best of their field, and it was an honor to sponsor the resolution recognizing them.
Indeed, it is largely thanks to these able firefighters and emergency first responders that we have the opportunity to repair the USS Miami. When I spoke with Navy Vice Admiral McCoy, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, after the fire, he said, “We’re determined to send the Miami back to sea.”
I join Admiral McCoy in this sentiment — with a growing shortage of submarines in our Navy, it is vital that the USS Miami and its crew are able to quickly return to their vital work of keeping this country safe and secure, as the boat has done since its commission in 1990. Indeed, in the coming weeks and months, I look forward to working with the Navy, the men and women of Kittery-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and my colleagues in the Senate to ensure that the USS Miami is quickly returned to service.
