By Jillian Kramer
Press-Register

MOBILE, Ala. — A 200-foot ship docked along the Mobile River near downtown Mobile caught fire Wednesday afternoon, setting off an explosion and sending three firefighters to the hospital.

Smoke clouded at 2 p.m. over the Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Co. yard, and fire-fighters battled the vessel's roaring blaze through the night.

More than 100 firefighters fought the fire, Mobile Fire-Rescue Department Capt. Debbie Briars said. Two were injured in a 5:45 p.m. explosion, she said, and one was treated for an unidentified injury.

The three men were taken to the University of South Alabama Medical Center. One suffered second-degree burns on his cheeks and ears, Briars said, and flying debris injured another firefighter's face. The men were checking the ship's three levels for pockets of fire when the explosion occurred, Briars said.

The firefighters' names were not released Wednesday night.

Briars said investigators don't know how the towing supply vessel fire began, but that at least 3, 000 gallons of diesel fuel on the ship caught fire.

Firefighters used fire-suppressing foam to cool the flames and coat the fuel, sealing it off from oxygen, at about 6:30 p.m., Briars said.

The foam would have to be left on top of the fire for several hours, Briars said, before firefighters could remove it.

"The foam blanket has to get to the temperature they're looking for" before it's removed, she said.

The department was given extra foam from a shipyard in Mississippi to combat the blaze, Briars said.

"The fire was much too big for what we had," she said.

The fire, despite its size, stayed contained to the ship, Briars said.

At about 8 p.m., firefighters scaled back their efforts, leaving only 30 men to fight the fire until morning, Briars said.

"We expect it to burn through the night, at least until the sun comes up," she said. "(Firefighters will) monitor the fire during the night and try as best as they can to see what's going on."

Firefighters would extinguish flames from the outside, she said.

"It's too dangerous to go back inside," Briars said, adding that more firefighters would return this morning to assess the situation and help battle any remaining pockets of fire.

When asked to estimate the damage to the vessel, Briars referred questions to Bender Shipbuilding.

Tom Bender, president of Bender Shipbuilding, did not return calls Wednesday night.