Gulf oil spill hearing: firefighting confusion

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A federal investigation of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion opened Tuesday in Kenner, La., with a Coast Guard search and rescue specialist testifying to a scene of confusion at the massive April 20 fire on the rig in the Gulf of Mexico. What became clear in the sometimes-intense questioning was that there was no one to coordinate the firefighting effort on the BP rig that night.

Kevin Robb said he was home after working a 12-hour shift when the Coast Guard called in every available helicopter for a rig fire that would escalate into a mass rescue. Robb said the Coast Guard does not usually fight fires, and that its policy is to focus on search and rescue. He said he believed the responsibility to suppress fires on the drilling platform was the responsibility of the owner, BP, and it was BP’s responsiblity to call for a fire marshal.

Robb said five boats were on the scene pouring water on the rig and that he believed those were dispatched from nearby oil platforms. Eventually, he said, those firefighting efforts were stopped because the heat was too great and because the platform was listing.

Pilots were flying with night-vision goggles and other aircraft were fitted with radar equipment that detected heat signatures to better find anyone in the water. ‘What you are looking for in these circumstances is about the size of a volleyball -- a person’s head,’ Robb said.

The hearings, called by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Minerals Managment Service to determine the cause of the accident that killed 11 workers, were delayed by a brief demonstration. Two protesters stood and unrolled yellow banners calling for an end to offshore drilling. The pair -- a man and a woman -- complained that the hearing allowed for no public testimony. They were escorted out of the room by Coast Guard personnel.

--Julie Cart