A fire on a container ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles was nearly contained Saturday afternoon, although authorities are still assessing whether enough hazardous material burned to cause significant contamination.
The fire, which broke out Friday evening, prompted surrounding communities to issue a shelter-in-place order over concerns about hazardous materials in One Henry Hudson's cargo.
In the morning the order was lifted and the ship was put to sea. Fireboats sprayed water on the ship to control “a small portion” that was still aflame, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Adam Van Gerpen said.
According to the fire department, the electrical fire apparently started below deck, but then spread to several levels of the ship and resulted in an explosion in the middle of the deck. The cause was investigated.
About 100 shipping containers burned, and many of them were carrying hazardous materials, Van Gerpen said. Officials said some contained lithium-ion batteries and other hazardous waste, although it was not clear whether they caught fire.
“We don’t know exactly which ones burned,” Van Gerpen said.
A Coast Guard spokesman initially had no further information about the dangerous substances and said the extent of possible contamination was not yet known.
According to the fire department, all 23 crew members were recorded and there were no injuries.
The Coast Guard said a half-nautical mile safety zone and a temporary flight restriction had been set up around the ship. Port operations resumed in the morning.
More than 100 firefighters were called to battle the blaze in North America's busiest seaport. Their efforts continued overnight, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.
The 1,102-foot vessel is operated by Ocean Network Express, which is headquartered in Singapore.
The company said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the situation and could confirm that all crew members were safely accommodated. It thanked first responders and said it was “fully committed to supporting incident management and subsequent investigations.”
Before Los Angeles, the ship was last in Japan and made stops in Kobe, Nagoya and Tokyo.
This story has been updated to correct that the shipping company's name is Ocean Network Express, not One Ocean Express.
Walker reported from New York and Nguyễn from Sacramento, California.