# Car Carrier Hoegh Xiamen fire and explosion in Jacksonville - Eight firefighters injured **URL:** \ **Category:** Maritime News\ **Created:** [June 5, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650 "2020-06-05T00:41:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![powerabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@powerabout](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/powerabout)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/21 "2020-06-10T04:15:36Z")
In the UK its the opposite, health and safety rules prevent the ‘professional firefighters from live training in a hot box’ hence you could say seamen are trained to a much higher standard. ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 10:36am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/22 "2020-06-10T10:36:05Z")
From this site: > **[Explosion on car carrier off Jacksonville, Florida | Insurance Marine News](https://insurancemarinenews.com/insurance-marine-news/22087/)** > > Eight firefighters were injured in an explosion aboard car carrier Hoegh Xiamen (IMO 9431848) which was berthed at the Blount Island Marine Terminal in the port of Jacksonville, Florida, during the afternoon of June 4th, requiring hospitalization.... > The salvage team suspected that the explosion was the result of a release of gases that built up within the interior after the vessel’s fire dampers were closed. > > The ship’s seventh deck was believed to have been the source of the fire shortly after the vessel completed loading operations, vessel operator Höegh Autoliners said. > > The fire spread through several other levels up to the 11th deck and down to deck six, according to USCG Sector Jacksonville commander Captain Mark Vlaun. > > JFRD Chief Keith Powers told local media on Friday that the vessel’s fire dampers have been shut in an effort to starve the fire of oxygen. He said that firefighters on board were dealing with zero visibility and enough heat to make the paint peel off the outside of the vessel. > Temperatures at lower deck levels remained in the range of 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the response team hoped to contain the “complex” fire above deck six – away from machinery spaces and bunker tanks. In the video it looks to me like pieces of the cargo hold vent are being blown off. There would be E/R vents aft of the stack but likely E/R exhaust vents are in the stack. The E/R supply vents would not vent outboard. Almost has to be a cargo hold vent. My guess is it was a flashover type event. The ship’s crew might have been following emergency procedures and closed the vents before the firefighters arrived… ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/2X/0/015789c884faa45efdfd7967345fa529f5479976.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/23 "2020-06-10T15:20:24Z")
An enclosed space is not required for a flashover. In this training video most of one wall is missing, there’s just enough at the top to trap the hot gases Forward to about 2:50 to see the flashover. [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/2X/3/38ba55fab8b9ea7478c99a99ab8ddb45cbddf059.jpeg "Flashover Demonstration") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtMmymOxdjc) > **[Flashover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashover)** > > A flashover is the near-simultaneous ignition of most of the directly exposed combustible material in an enclosed area. When certain organic materials are heated, they undergo thermal decomposition and release flammable gases. Flashover occurs when the majority of the exposed surfaces in a space are heated to their autoignition temperature and emit flammable gases (see also flash point). Flashover normally occurs at 500 °C (932 °F) or 590 °C (1,100 °F) for ordinary combustibles and an incident he... **smoke explosion** or **fire gas ignition** depending on the severity of the combustion process. ---
**Author:** ![Lee\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Lee\_Shore](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lee_Shore)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/24 "2020-06-10T15:36:42Z")
If by ‘hot box’ you mean a small room, I’m questioning the fact that UK rules prevent firefighters from training to fight fire in confined spaces. ---
**Author:** ![powerabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@powerabout](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/powerabout)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/25 "2020-06-11T01:52:52Z")
Hot box is the steel building that simulates a ship, has about 6 levels and can be sealed when on fire. As explained to me by the ex firefighters that run the fire part of Nautical centre in the UK where I did my firefighting in that steel building Local firefighters do not use the Marine facility as they dont go into burning buildings, they hose them from the outside. The joke they said was a chef on a cruise ship has done training a professional has not. They did say the guys in the USA create a ventilation escape high up to draw smoke out and then enter They all thought the US system was better. One of the guys who had a whole 30+ years in local firefighting (and there are lots of fires in the UK from the crap old buildings) said neither him nor any fireman in his area, Kent, had ever saved anyone, he said they are either out when you arrive or inside and dead from the smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Lee\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Lee\_Shore](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lee_Shore)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 11:10am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/26 "2020-06-11T11:10:24Z")
I was curious about the term. I’ve trained for shipboard firefighting in the US in a steel structure simulating a ship but not with that many levels and it wasn’t called a hot box. Our FDs train in something like what you describe, several stories and shaped like a tall square box. ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 11:45am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/27 "2020-06-11T11:45:38Z")
Professional large city firefighters are going to have far more experience fighting fires than ship’s crew. How many mariners have fought more than small fires? I ask at meetings, it’s very few. Don’t know yet if it was an issue here but the fact that many fire departments in port cities are not well prepared for shipboard firefighting is a well know issue. [https://firerescuemagazine.firefighternation.com/2008/01/31/preparing-for-shipboard-fires/#gref](https://firerescuemagazine.firefighternation.com/2008/01/31/preparing-for-shipboard-fires/#gref) > Marine firefighting is unarguably one of the most challenging of all firefighter disciplines. ---
**Author:** ![powerabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@powerabout](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/powerabout)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/28 "2020-06-11T12:46:46Z")
yep with a welded up interior with stairs and cabins etc, I’m sure its the same? They can make the building hot enough to melt your helmet although that is above your training temp. It a very hot box… The lesson well learned is a very small fire in an enclosed space gets very very hot ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/29 "2020-06-11T13:44:55Z")
2 posts were split to a new topic: [Not car carrier fire](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/not-car-carrier-fire/55716) ---
**Author:** ![Lee\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Lee\_Shore](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lee_Shore)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 1:36pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/30 "2020-06-11T13:36:00Z")
There are courses available to municipal FDs to train for special types of fires to suit their communities which may include responses to ship or airplane fires. I think it’s safe to say a fire dept in a town with a big chemical plant or oil refinery trains to fight those kinds of fires. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Seadog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/67e7ee/32.png) [@Chief\_Seadog](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Chief_Seadog)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/31 "2020-06-11T16:53:09Z")
Very often large chemical plants and oil refineries have their own on-site industrial fire departments given the nature of the business and potential risks. ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/32 "2020-07-03T16:42:49Z")
> **[Höegh Xiamen Declared a Total Loss After Fire in Jacksonville](https://gcaptain.com/hoegh-xiamen-declared-a-total-loss-after-fire-in-jacksonville/)** > > The car carrier Höegh Xiamen has been declared a total loss following a fire that broke out onboard last month in Jacksonville, Florida, its owner announced Friday. Norway-based Ocean Yield ASA sai… ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Seadog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/67e7ee/32.png) [@Chief\_Seadog](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Chief_Seadog)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/33 "2020-07-03T19:08:17Z")
Purely an academic question. If it is declared a “total loss” there in Jacksonville can it be “salvaged” and be Jones Act qualified. ---
**Author:** ![Jamesbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Jamesbrown](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Jamesbrown)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/34 "2020-07-03T21:02:05Z")
In theory, yes. [https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/46/67.133](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/46/67.133) ---
**Author:** ![DamnYankee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/damnyankee/32/514_2.png) [@DamnYankee](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/DamnYankee)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/35 "2020-07-03T21:05:35Z")
> [@Chief\_Seadog](#): > > can it be “salvaged” and be Jones Act qualified. Let’s strap some hydrofoils on it and run it between DC and Norfolk! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 10:48am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/36 "2020-07-10T10:48:17Z")
> **[Car carrier totaled, to be towed from JAXPORT - FreightWaves](https://www.freightwaves.com/news/car-carrier-totaled-to-be-removed-from-jaxport)** > > Cause of blaze at the Blount Island Marine Terminal remains under investigation. ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/37 "2020-09-02T19:15:21Z")
And now the Lawyers are trying to get their “piece of the cake”: > **[Lawsuit filed over Höegh Xiamen blaze - Splash 247](https://splash247.com/lawsuit-filed-over-hoegh-xiamen-blaze/)** > > A Florida law firm, Pajcic & Pajcic, filed a lawsuit yesterday on behalf of 10 Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department firefighters injured in a June explosion on the car carrier. On June 4, a fire started on the ship which was docked in the St... ---
**Author:** ![SeaEagle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/seaeagle/32/17788_2.png) [@SeaEagle](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/SeaEagle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/38 "2020-09-03T02:16:48Z")
No surprise here. ---
**Author:** ![Steamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Steamer](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Steamer)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/39 "2020-09-03T13:24:46Z")
> [@ombugge](#): > > And now the Lawyers are trying to get their “piece of the cake”: Next to the lottery, ambulance chasing is one of Florida’s largest industries. If it were not for the lowest form of shysters buying “get rich no risk” advertisements the television stations in Florida would go broke. It is surprising that no ambulance chaser has ever been sued because of an accident caused by drivers reading the giant billboards telling them how rich a car wreck can make them. ---
**Author:** ![Hogsnort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@Hogsnort](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Hogsnort)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 6:12pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650/40 "2020-09-03T18:12:40Z")
It surprised the hell out of me ! About 45 pages of lawyers in the Yellow Pages for Jacksonville, Fl? [Previous page](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/car-carrier-hoegh-xiamen-fire-and-explosion-in-jacksonville-eight-firefighters-injured/55650.md?page=1)