Fire aboard US nuclear submarine, seven injured

WASHINGTON - Agence France-Presse

In this April 26, 2004 photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Miami SSN 755, homeported in Groton, Conn. arrives in port in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. AP photo

At least seven people were injured when a fire broke out on a US nuclear submarine at a dockyard in the state of Maine, but the nuclear reactor on board was not in danger, the navy said Thursday.
 
The fire broke out around 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) Wednesday on the USS Miami -- which was in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for maintenance and upgrades -- and burned through much of the night, port spokeswoman Tami Remick told AFP.
 
Remick said the fire broke out in the forward part of the vessel housing living quarters and command and control spaces.
 
She said there were no weapons on board the submarine and that the nuclear reactor "remains in safe and secure condition." The seven wounded included five firefighters and two members of the ship's crew. Six were treated for minor injuries and the seventh was in stable condition in a hospital, navy spokesman Lieutenant Myers Vasquez told AFP.
 
Vasquez said the fire was finally extinguished at around 3:48 am (0748 GMT) Thursday and that the cause of the blaze would be investigated.
 
He said the nuclear reactor had been shut down two months earlier and was isolated from the fire early on.