Washington state crews responding to boat fire in Tacoma Tideflats, residents receive smoke warning

Fire crews on Sunday continued to battle a fire that broke out the day prior on the Kodiak Enterprise boat docked at Tacoma, Washington’s Tideflats Port Facility. 

The Tacoma Fire Department, the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington Department of Ecology and other agencies were responding to the fire. 

The Department of Ecology first tweeted about the fire shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday. The department said there was no spill but responders had placed booms around the vessel as a precaution. 

By Sunday afternoon, the fire had progressed throughout the ship and was approximately 100 feet from the vessel’s freon tanks. 

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The Kodiak Enterprise is reported to have some 55,000 gallons of diesel and 19,000 pounds of freon onboard. The heat from the fire can cause pressure to build in the freon tanks. 

Freon can be toxic if inhaled in large quantities or enclosed spaces, but officials say the chemical’s release into the atmosphere is not expected to pose any safety risk to the public. 

The Tacoma Fire Department issued a temporary shelter-in-place order for NE Tacoma, Browns Point and Dash Point neighborhoods. Residents were urged to remain indoors and limit exposure to smoke. 

The Coast Guard closed the Hylebos Waterway for all commercial and recreational vessel traffic. A Coast Guard Cutter was deployed to enforce the closure. 

“The safety of the public and responders is our top priority,” Coast Guard Capt. Youngmee Moon said in a statement. “The unified command is working closely to leverage each agency’s capabilities to respond to this incident as effectively as possible and keep the public safe.” 

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. No further details were released.