Local

Interior of Tacoma commercial fishing boat still burning

TACOMA, Wash. — A fierce fire on a moored commercial fishing boat at the Port of Tacoma that took three fireboats to battle is still burning in the interior of the vessel, officials reported Saturday.

The fire started near the 400 block of East Alexander off Marine View Drive around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

A crew on Tacoma fireboat Destiny was the first to arrive and found heavy flames coming from the pilothouse of the boat Aleutian Falcon, owned by Trident Seafoods.

Officials said responders were able to enter the interior and suppress the fire in the bow and stern. Crews are still working to remove water in an effort not to overload the vessel.

Officials said approximately 2,500 gallons of water were removed by a vacuum truck, and there are other vacuum trucks assisting in the removal of the water.

The boat was listing from the water used to fight the fire, but that has since been corrected.

The vessel still has 9,800 pounds of ammonia on board used for fish freezers and is not threatened by the fire. The ammonia is located in the hull.

Officials said no concerning chemicals have been detected, and particulate remains at background levels as they continue to monitor the air quality.

In addition, there is no indication that the 48,000 gallons of diesel fuel on the ship have been released. Booms were placed around the boat because work was being done to the vessel. However, crews are monitoring a light oil sheen outside of a boom.

Officials said Tacoma fire crews have been demobilized, and command has shifted to a unified command, consisting of ecology, the USCG and Trident.