5TH DISTRICT REPORT | CHARLIE MARTINEZ
Photo: U.S. Navy
Photo: San Diego Federal Firefighters F-33
Local F-33 Fights for Members in Wake of Ship FIRE DISASTER
When the 9-1-1 call came in on a Sunday morning last July, firefighters with San Diego Federal Fire knew it was going to be a long day. Smoke was pouring from below-decks on the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship undergoing maintenance and upgrades at Naval Base San Diego.
As Federal Fire took control and began working to help on-board sailors battling the fire, a powerful explosion knocked firefighters to the ground and, in some cases, knocked their helmets and masks off. What followed was a grueling, four-day firefight, with temperatures approaching 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit.
“The whole ship was involved at one point,” said Ian Piccolo, president of Federal Firefighters, San Diego, Local F-33. “Our crews were three or four decks below … and there was considerable fire loading down there. Sometimes just to get to the operational floor would take 15-20 minutes. Crews didn’t have much air.”
Many of the 200 F-33 members were operational continuously for almost a week, with relentless, confining interior attack. More than 400 Navy firefighters also participated, as well as San Diego City Firefighters and other personnel. By the time the fire was out, 63 individuals had been injured — none life-threatening — and damage had been sustained on 11 of the 14 decks.
The firefight was over, but in some ways, the fight was just beginning for Local F-33.
Over the five-day siege, firefighters were awash in smoke, toxins and dangerous fumes, even as they were staging. Large amounts of fluorinated firefighting foam — already being phased out because of their high toxicity — were pumped into the fire. In addition, large amounts of water were being pumped in by contractors, swirling through toxic construction materials being used for the ship upgrades.
Photo: San Diego Federal Firefighters F-33
“Our members were walking through and soaking our turnouts in all the water and all the contaminants,” said Piccolo.
Without the protection of a national firefighter presumption, F-33 members needed detailed and documented understanding of the toxins to which they were being exposed. But the Navy wasn’t talking. At the time of the fire, said Piccolo, there was no monitoring being done within the ship itself. The only air monitoring canisters were set up by San Diego County for environmental air quality.
“There was just no transparency about what was in the air,” said Piccolo. “To this day, the Navy still hasn’t released anything to us about the chemicals typically found on the ships.”
With the Navy not talking, Piccolo and F-33 turned to IAFF and CPF for assistance. The IAFF partnered with researchers at Johns Hopkins. Armed with the San Diego County chemical information and a Navy manual provided by a firefighter who helps instruct Navy firefighting personnel, researchers were able to “reverse-engineer” the nature and duration of toxic exposures.
“They gave us a letter for each member to memorialize the known hazards from the fire that cause cancer, as well as the amount of time each member was on the fire,” said Piccolo. “It was something members can have to protect themselves, since we don’t have a federal presumption.”
The fire enabled Local F-33 to fast-track the purchase of more gear to ensure availability of two sets of turnouts. Local F-33 was also able to expedite a contract to get gear cleaned. “We had members working more than 12 hours, and when they rested and came back, there were getting right back into dirty gear,” said Piccolo. “Now, we have a pretty good process.”
Finally, Local F-33 worked to ensure that, when they get their yearly physical, members will get baseline blood testing for PFAS and PFOA — the toxins used in the fluorinated foams pumped into the fire. Since the first of the year, Piccolo sees a stronger effort to complete the process of transitioning to non-fluorinated firefighting foams — a process endorsed by IAFF and CPF.
“There’s still an ongoing investigation and they take forever, so we’re still waiting for information,” said Piccolo. “ But as far as F-33, I think we’ve done a solid job testifying and advocating for our members who put so much of themselves into this fight.”