CARY WILLIAMS
ABC ActionNews
Reprinted with Permission

TAMPA, Fla. - Five firefighters were transported to local hospitals with heat exhaustion after battling the four-alarm fire at the Port of Tampa Wednesday morning.


The fire broke out on a large conveyor belt attached to a $50 million cargo ship. Because of the heat, more than 100 fire fighters from Tampa Fire Rescue fought the fire.

The blaze was reported around 9 a.m. at berth 220 on the west side of Hooker's Point near Davis Islands.

The fire went to a fourth alarm shortly after 9:30 a.m. The Coast Guard was called in to assist in the firefighting efforts around 9:45.

With the heavy equipment and high temperatures, heat exhaustion was a concern, and firefighters battled the blaze in shifts.

Battling this blaze on the water gave rescue officials plenty of concerns.

Fire crews had to back away when the conveyor frame weakened, and at one point began to collapse. Another concern was stressing the vessel with too much water. Variable weight may have tilted and capsized the shipper.

Firefighters from the ground and the water used water and foam to try to put out the stubborn blaze, finally extinguishing the fire around 1 p.m.

Tampa Fire spokesman Captain Bill Wade says, "We are optimistic they will be treated and released. Firefighter push really hard fighting fire, that's who fire fighters are."

Wade said that all 32 crewmembers aboard the 742-foot Liberian-registered Sophia Oldendorff were evacuated safely.

Just put into service in September, Tampa Fire Rescue employed a new fire boat, The Patriot.

"The Patriot was essential in fighting this fire," Wade said.

According to Captain Wade, the fire originated at the conveyor belt. "We do understand that this conveyor belt started working last night. And it is believed that somehow it had a malfunction to cause the belt, which is made of rubber and plastic, to catch fire."

The multimillion dollar boat travelled to the Port of Tampa from Canada.

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