Fire burst on board of the amphibious dock landing ship Gunston Hall. The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon. The flames started at about 2 p.m. At that time the ship was in the process of maintenance works taking place at the NASSCO-Earl Industries Shipyard in Portsmouth.
According to first reports disseminated by the Navy, the fire started in a storeroom with no personnel positioned under the main deck. Both the Gunston Hall's in-port emergency fire group and firefighters from Portsmouth reacted to the incident. The fire was made public at about 5:25 p.m. A member of the Navy firefighters declared that he had inhaled a little bit of a smoke but that did not prevent him from carrying his obligations.
The reason for the fire is currently being investigated.