TACOMA, Wash. — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com
Three years after a fire aboard a commercial fishing ship moored at the Port of Tacoma caused roughly $100 million in damages, the ship owner filed a lawsuit against the fire department.
Owners of the Kodiak Enterprise, Trident Seafoods Corp. (TSC), filed the lawsuit against the City of Tacoma on March 27, accusing the Tacoma Fire Department of mishandling the fire, according to The Tacoma News Tribune.
The fire aboard the vessel burned for more than a week in April 2023, which temporarily required nearby Tacoma neighborhoods to shelter in place after fears of fuel and oil spills.
The U.S. Coast Guard later found that there was no spillage, but the Kodiak Enterprise was deemed a total loss. TSC alleges that Tacoma Fire mishandled the fire that was initially contained at the bow and disregarded techniques recommended by a professional marine firefighting company.
Tacoma Fire allegedly ignored marine experts’ containment advice
TSC claimed that Tacoma Fire’s actions caused the fire to grow out of control, which produced “catastrophic additional damage” to the Kodiak Enterprise. The vessel had an estimated fair-market value of $185 million, according to the lawsuit’s documents, obtained by The Tacoma News Tribune.
“The city’s conduct constituted gross negligence and recklessness, marked by a conscious disregard of a known and substantial risk of harm,” the complaint stated.
The Kodiak Enterprise was docked in the Hylebos Waterway early in the morning on April 8, 2023, when authorities received reports of the active fire.
Tacoma Fire arrived at the scene at approximately 3:30 a.m. to battle the fire, which originated in the front of the ship.
The fire department took command of the operation, but TSC also consulted a professional marine firefighting company, Resolve Marine Group, as part of TSC’s federally required plan of action for incidents involving a spill. Resolve personnel arrived around 6 a.m., according to the lawsuit.
At around 1:30 p.m., the fire was “substantially under control,” and Resolve recommended Tacoma Fire use a defensive strategy by sealing the forward compartments, depriving the fire of oxygen, and allowing it to burn inside the confined spaces for an extended period.
According to the complaint, Tacoma Fire chose an alternative strategy.
The fire department used positive pressure ventilation, where a powerful fan is used to pressurize the affected space. This technique has widespread recognition among the marine firefighting industry as being dangerous for ship fires, according to the lawsuit.
“Unlike land-based structures, vessels contain interconnected compartment systems, machinery spaces, fuel sources, and complex internal pathways,” the filing said, according to The Tacoma News Tribune. “Forcing pressurized air into a partially-controlled shipboard fire without knowing the exhaust path creates a well-known and substantial risk that oxygen will reach residual fire or heat, causing it to reignite and spread.”
Resolve allegedly disapproved of Tacoma Fire’s strategy, which was conducted at approximately 6:45 p.m. on the day the fire began. The strategy allegedly led to a large increase in smoke within minutes, according to the complaint. The fire grew larger and soon got out of Tacoma Fire’s control.
“In the ensuing minutes and hours, the fire spread quickly through the living spaces and superstructure of the Vessel. Eventually, it spread to all other areas of the Vessel, including the engine room and factory,” the lawsuit stated. “Ultimately, the vessel burned from stem to stern. The vessel was a total loss.”
Fire alarm system failure cited as primary factor in $150M loss
Two federal agencies investigated the fire and determined it started with combustible materials igniting inside the dry stores section of the ship. This area is designated for non-refrigerated food storage, according to the agency’s investigative reports.
Crews aboard the vessel were grinding, cutting, and welding, among other “hot work projects,” while the ship was docked for a scheduled maintenance period.
The U.S. Coast Guard said that the cause of the fire couldn’t be definitively determined, but the agency’s report found two probable factors: shipyard personnel conducting the work failed to prevent sparks or hot debris from entering the dry stores loading hatch, and electrical equipment failed inside the dry stores area.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ruled out the hot work as a possible cause of the fire, concluding that the fire started from an unknown electrical source in the dry stores area.
The ship’s fire alarm system didn’t activate to alert the crew members sleeping aboard, according to the Coast Guard’s report. The report cited the failure as the primary causal factor of the ship’s constructive loss, estimated at $150 million.
Three crew members who were sleeping onboard the vessel escaped without sustaining injuries, and were alerted to the fire by a security guard who was notified by another vessel moored nearby, according to the report, obtained by The Tacoma News Tribune.
Months prior to the April 2023 fire, TSC was fined $25,000 by the Washington State Department of Ecology for a fire in 2021 that destroyed one of the company’s ships, also docked at the Port of Tacoma.
TSC was fined for spilling 20 to 30 gallons of hydraulic oil, negligence, and not reporting the emergency properly.
The lawsuit is seeking compensatory damages in an amount that will be proven at trial, along with punitive damages and legal fees.