KITTERY, Maine (AP) — Officials are venting smoke and noxious fumes from a nuclear-powered submarine at a Maine shipyard so they can get inside to assess what a fire did to it.
Firefighters from the shipyard and coastal departments in Maine and New Hampshire spent Wednesday night and early Thursday fighting the fire on the USS Miami. Seven firefighters and crew members were hurt, but not badly.
Rear Adm. Richard Breckenridge, commander of Submarine Group Two, on Thursday called the firefighters heroes. He says officials are hoping to assess the damage later in the day.
Breckenridge says the firefighters isolated the flames so they would not spread to nuclear propulsion spaces. He says there is nuclear fuel on board the sub, but the reactor has been shut down for two months.
