Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Crews extinguish cargo ship fire that burned for hours
MIAMI (WSVN) -- Firefighters have put out a fire that burned for hours aboard a cargo ship docked on the Miami River.
Officials said mattresses on the top deck of the cargo vessel Mystic somehow caught fire around 9 a.m. Tuesday. It wasn't until about six hours later, in the late afternoon, that Miami Fire Rescue deemed the blaze "under control."
The crew of the ship initially battled the blaze minutes before Fire Rescue Crews arrived. One man witnessed the intense smoke billowing into the air. "At least 200 to 300 feet probably. It was boiling up, real dark brown, couldn't even see through it," said John Coyne.
Fire Rescue expected the fire to burn for awhile because of the ingredients fueling it. "Mattresses are burning, but the big concern is that if it gets to the cars or the tires, that makes it very difficult to put out a tire fire. Then you'll probably hear some explosions," said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll.
The ship was bound for Haiti on Thursday, but the trip will most likely be canceled due to damage to the ship. Officials have confirmed that relief supplies were not on board. "These supplies are not related to the hurricane relief efforts that are taking place now throughout Miami-Dade County," said Carroll.
Just two months ago a different ship going to Haiti with similar cargo also caught fire on the Miami River and burned for a week.
Fire officials fear this fire may reignite and are very cautiously unloading charred debris from the vessel. Boat traffic remains shut down between the 17th Avenue bridge and the 27th Avenue bridge, but the 22nd Avenue bridge has reopened to land traffic.
No injuries were reported.
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