Crew members of the Seattle-based Pacific Glacier are headed home after the vessel caught fire in the Bering Sea last night.
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_022708BUB_fishing_boat_fire_alaska_JM.b99673.html
JUNEAU, Alaska - Fire broke out on a fish processing boat from Seattle in the Bering Sea Tuesday night, the Coast Guard said.
No injuries were reported on the 253-foot Pacific Glacier, and 90 of the 106 crew members were taken aboard nearby vessels after the fire began, Coast Guard Petty Officer Barry Lane said.
The rest fought the fire belowdecks, aided by some crew members from as many as 10 nearby vessels about 136 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor.
The Coast Guard got a call for help at 7:30 p.m. Seattle time, and the cutter Alex Haley arrived about midnight Tuesday night. The fire, which started in the laundry room, was contained by 5 a.m. Wednesday.
"Everyone is OK and accounted for," said John Bundy, President of Seattle's Glacier Fish Co. "Nobody got wet, nobody even scraped themselves as far as I know."
Bundy said about 80 percent of the crew is from the Seattle area. They are headed back home.
Bundy said all of the deck crew and licensed crew are required to go through professional firefighting at the North Bend fire academy and other maritime fire academies.
"We're just thankful last November everyone went through training," he said. "We always need to be prepared for something like this."
The vessel will lose the remainder of the winter fishing season and will return to Seattle for repairs pending Coast Guard clearance.
Bundy said it's the first time the company has had a fire since its inception in 1982.
