By Julie Walker and Trân Nguyễn
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — A fire on a container ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles was nearly contained Saturday afternoon, though authorities were still assessing whether enough hazardous material burned to cause significant contamination.
The blaze, which broke out Friday night, prompted a shelter-in-place order for surrounding communities over concerns about hazardous materials in the One Henry Hudson’s cargo.
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The order was lifted in the morning, and the ship was moved out to sea. Fireboats sprayed water on the vessel to tame “a small section” that was still on fire, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Adam Van Gerpen said.
The electrical fire apparently started below deck before spreading to several levels of the ship, leading to an explosion mid-deck, according to the fire department. The cause was under investigation.
Roughly 100 cargo containers burned, and many of them carried dangerous materials, Van Gerpen said. Officials said some included lithium-ion batteries and other hazardous waste, though it was not clear if they caught fire.
“We don’t know specifically which ones burned,” Van Gerpen said.
A Coast Guard spokesperson did not immediately have more information on the hazardous materials and said the extent of potential contamination was not yet known.
All 23 crew members were accounted for, and there were no injuries, according to the fire department.
The Coast Guard said a safety zone of half a nautical mile and a temporary flight restriction were established around the vessel. Port operations resumed by morning.
More than 100 firefighters were called to battle the blaze at the busiest seaport in North America. Their efforts continued overnight, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.
The 1,102-foot (336-meter) ship is operated by Ocean Network Express, which is headquartered in Singapore.
The company said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the situation and was able to confirm that all crew members were safely accounted for. It thanked first responders and said it was “fully committed to supporting incident management and subsequent investigations.”
Before Los Angeles the ship was most recently in Japan, stopping in Kobe, Nagoya and Tokyo.
