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November 13, 2014

Report: Navy complacent in Portsmouth sub fire

Navy investigators have concluded that the Navy’s response to the May 2012 nuclear submarine fire at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard showed it had become complacent about safety, and also placed too much faith in land-based firefighters not trained to battle such a blaze.

The Associated Press reported the investigators noted there was confusion when the fire started at the Kittery shipyard where the USS Miami was undergoing an overhaul, and there were two hour-long periods during which no water was put on the flames.

The Associated Press obtained the conclusions in more than 100 pages of documents via a Freedom of Information Act request.

It took 12 hours and more than 100 firefighters to save the USS Miami after a worker set a fire that spread quickly. The Navy ultimately scrapped the sub after the repair tab hit $700 million.

The Associated Press said the Navy did not respond immediately to a request for comment Thursday.

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