VIDEO: Tacoma fishing vessel fire brings shelter in place order

The Washington Department of Ecology tweeted this photo of unified command response efforts

Residents in areas of Tacoma, Wash., were under a shelter in place order yesterday as a unified command continued its response to a major fishing vessel fire.

The vessel, the 1977-built, 276 foot long King Seafoods catcher processor Kodiak Enterprise ,caught fire around 3.20 a.m., Saturday morning while moored at the seafood company’s facility on the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma.

KIRO 7 TV quotes Trident Seafoods said there were three people on board the ship when the fire started but they made it out safely without any injuries.

According to the unified command, which includes the Tacoma Fire Department, the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington Department of Ecology and other agencies, the fire has progressed throughout the ship and as of yesterday was within 100 feet of the vessel’s freon tanks.

The vessel is reported to have an estimated 55,000 gallons of diesel and 19,000 pounds of freon onboard. The heat from the fire can cause pressure to build in the freon tanks.

The freon tanks are designed with built-in heat-activated pressure relief valves which are designed to release the freon tanks’ pressure in an emergency situation. While freon can be toxic if inhaled in large quantities or in a confined space, the release of freon into the atmosphere is not expected to pose any health and safety risks to the public.

As a precautionary measure, the EPA has been conducting air monitoring to assess air quality in the surrounding areas and yesterday they were being augmented by contractors to further refine air monitoring capabilities.

To ensure the safety of the public, the City of Tacoma Fire Department issued a temporary shelter in place order for N.E. Tacoma, Browns Point and Dash Point neighborhoods. Residents were advised to remain indoors and limit exposures to smoke.

In addition, the Coast Guard closed the Hylebos Waterway to all commercial and recreational vessel traffic.

“The safety of the public and responders is our top priority,” said Coast Guard Capt. Youngmee Moon, the federal on scene coordinator. “The unified command is working closely to leverage each agency’s capabilities to respond to this incident as effectively as possible and keep the public safe.”

Responders have been continuing to fight the fire by providing cooling spray to the exterior of the vessel.

There are no reported signs of maritime pollution. As a preventive measure, responders have deployed three layers of containment boom around the vessel to protect the marine environment. As a precautionary measure the unified command has also deployed three skimmers and three boom boats.

The cause of the incident is under investigation. Additional updates will be released as they become available.

“We want to thank everyone for their prompt response and support,” said Joe Bundrant, CEO of Trident Seafoods. “This has been a challenging containment issue and we appreciate the ongoing efforts over this Easter weekend.”

Tacoma was also the scene of a February 2021 fishing vessel fire involving another Trident Seafoods vessel, the Aleutian Falcon. That fire burned for four days and occurred while the vessel was in a shipyard undergoing repairs. The National Transportation Safety Board found that the most likely cause was inadequate hot work supervision.