Title: USS Slater
Description: fire damages floating museum
Description: fire damages floating museum
Wushu - January 5, 2006 03:08 PM (GMT)
Fire damages USS Slater
Firefighters battled heavy smoke to put out blaze caused by blowtorch used in repairs
By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer
Last updated: 2:56 p.m., Wednesday, January 4, 2006
RENSSELAER -- A group of retirees working in a honeycomb of compartments below deck on the USS Slater were lucky to escape a smoky blaze Wednesday.
A metal cutting torch sparked the fire about 11 a.m.
``You couldn't see anything and I just put my hat over my face like this and felt my way out of there,'' said Bob Callander removing his black knit cap to demonstrate.
One of the volunteers, a group of retired Navy veterans who keep the floating museum in ship shape, said he was lucky someone in front of him took his hand.
``I could not see a thing and was thinking I was not going to get out of there until someone reached me,'' said the man, who did not give his name. He and other volunteers watched as crews from Rensselaer and East Greenbush fought the fire.
About 10 volunteers were working just below deck in the bow of the World War II destroyer escort when the sparks lit a canvas tarp. They were working on the first level below deck in a small compartment called the chief's head -- the bathroom for commissioned officers -- the volunteers said.
Firefighters, unaccustomed to putting out blazes aboard a ship, used a rope tied to the lead firefighter inside to wend their way through the various compartments as thick gray smoke poured from open doors.
Fire officials also scrambled to obtain the destroyer escort's manual -- a large book complete with diagrams of the ship's complicated interior -- that they used to guide their way. The heat inside the ship was so intense, at one point snow and ice on the top deck steamed and gray paint on the exterior of the ship's hull blistered.
Once inside, the crews quickly got the blaze under control.
Workers said they were removing rusted metal from the bulkhead and hung the canvas tarp like a curtain to separate the work area from the rest of the ship. The workers used up all of the fire extinguishers at hand before realizing they needed help to put out the fire and called the Rensselaer Fire Department.
No one was injured.
The USS Slater, used as a tourist attraction, is docked from spring through October near the Port of Albany. Each winter, it is moved to the Rensselaer side of the Hudson River, where repairs and other restoration work is done during the off season.
It was not immediately clear how much damage was done by Wednesday's fire or how that would affect its scheduled opening in the spring.
The group of volunteers later got some amusement from the accident.
"Bad news, boys,'' Callander yelled to the group, many of whom served on escorts like the Slater during the war. ``All our pay records have been destroyed.''
Firefighters battled heavy smoke to put out blaze caused by blowtorch used in repairs
By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer
Last updated: 2:56 p.m., Wednesday, January 4, 2006
RENSSELAER -- A group of retirees working in a honeycomb of compartments below deck on the USS Slater were lucky to escape a smoky blaze Wednesday.
A metal cutting torch sparked the fire about 11 a.m.
``You couldn't see anything and I just put my hat over my face like this and felt my way out of there,'' said Bob Callander removing his black knit cap to demonstrate.
One of the volunteers, a group of retired Navy veterans who keep the floating museum in ship shape, said he was lucky someone in front of him took his hand.
``I could not see a thing and was thinking I was not going to get out of there until someone reached me,'' said the man, who did not give his name. He and other volunteers watched as crews from Rensselaer and East Greenbush fought the fire.
About 10 volunteers were working just below deck in the bow of the World War II destroyer escort when the sparks lit a canvas tarp. They were working on the first level below deck in a small compartment called the chief's head -- the bathroom for commissioned officers -- the volunteers said.
Firefighters, unaccustomed to putting out blazes aboard a ship, used a rope tied to the lead firefighter inside to wend their way through the various compartments as thick gray smoke poured from open doors.
Fire officials also scrambled to obtain the destroyer escort's manual -- a large book complete with diagrams of the ship's complicated interior -- that they used to guide their way. The heat inside the ship was so intense, at one point snow and ice on the top deck steamed and gray paint on the exterior of the ship's hull blistered.
Once inside, the crews quickly got the blaze under control.
Workers said they were removing rusted metal from the bulkhead and hung the canvas tarp like a curtain to separate the work area from the rest of the ship. The workers used up all of the fire extinguishers at hand before realizing they needed help to put out the fire and called the Rensselaer Fire Department.
No one was injured.
The USS Slater, used as a tourist attraction, is docked from spring through October near the Port of Albany. Each winter, it is moved to the Rensselaer side of the Hudson River, where repairs and other restoration work is done during the off season.
It was not immediately clear how much damage was done by Wednesday's fire or how that would affect its scheduled opening in the spring.
The group of volunteers later got some amusement from the accident.
"Bad news, boys,'' Callander yelled to the group, many of whom served on escorts like the Slater during the war. ``All our pay records have been destroyed.''
israeli - January 5, 2006 03:16 PM (GMT)
^ reminds of me the lone Cannon class DE that remains in military service, the BRP Rajah Humabon. :headbang:
Wushu - January 10, 2006 06:16 AM (GMT)
you know, fixing some of our rusting hulks into fixed museums or attractions located near ccp may not be a bad idea..... it may even generate some cash for the navy..... maritime schools may even rent it out and practice some of their basic ship drills.....