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Friday 25 May 2012

USS Miami sub fire investigated

The flames have been put out at the USS Miami after catching fire on Wednesday, but concern continues for the submarine that will be undergoing a 20 month overhaul.

The forward section of the submarine caught fire while undergoing scheduled maintenance at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

Veterans were being honored and remembered at the Submarine base by Vitas Innovative Hospice Care when the USS Miami caught fire . The submarine was built at Electric Boat and home ported in Groton.
"Yeah, I don't like to see that happen," said Navy veteran George Vredenburgh.

Bob Edmond is also a Navy veteran, and he said he was concerned for the crew members when he heard that the submarine was on fire.

"I just didn't believe it," he said. "Oh yeah, once you have a fire on a boat [it's] bad."

Joe Quaratella owns Nautilus Barber Shop. He gets a lot of his business from the Navy members when they are in Groton.

"Got a lot of customers from the Miami when they're here in Groton," said Quaratella.

He said he has a personalized picture from one of the captains of the ship. When he saw the fire, he said he was concerned.

"Oh yeah I was wondering," he said. "The first thing in my mind was terrorism."

There has been no word as to whether or not this was a terrorist attack, but an investigation is underway.

News 8 has been told that none of the 120 USS Miami crew members were living on board when the fire broke out, and everyone has been accounted for. They will stay in New Hampshire during the 20 month overhaul.

However, seven firefighters were injured fighting the fire.

"Any tragedy like that is real bad. They're very expensive for the country to maintain and of course the men you don't want to see them get hurt," said Quaratella.

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