11 Crewmen Hurt in Blaze Aboard Carrier Forrestal

An electrical fire aboard the aircraft carrier Forrestal injured 11 crewmen and forced the evacuation of about 1,000 others, Navy officials said today.

The fire began about 8:30 p.m. Monday in one of the aircraft elevator machinery rooms, said Navy officials at the Mayport Naval Station, where the Forrestal is berthed.

The fire in the machinery room was out by 1 a.m. today, but firefighters continued to “cool off hot spots” that could travel along electrical cableways, said Cmdr. Tim Taylor, a Navy spokesman at Mayport.

Eleven firefighters, all Forrestal crewmen, were treated at the base clinic for minor smoke inhalation, cuts and bruises and later released.

The cause of the fire was unknown.

Navy officials would neither confirm nor deny reports that the ship, which is not nuclear powered, carried nuclear weapons.

Taylor said the blaze, which produced thick black smoke and enough heat to activate the ship’s automatic sprinkler system, prompted the evacuation of about 1,000 crew members for several hours.

All 2,500 members of the Forrestal’s crew were back aboard the vessel this morning. Half had been ashore on leave when the evacuation order came.

No one except Forrestal crewmen were allowed aboard the ship today, and the ship’s officers were still trying to determine the extent of the damage.