JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Out of the nine firefighters that were injured in last week's vehicle-carrying ship fire in Blount Island, all but one were released from the hospital, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said Monday.
The one firefighter remaining is undergoing surgery within Shands hospital's burn unit in Gainesville.
Last Thursday, the vessel caught fire on the seventh floor around 4 p.m. and caused an explosion around 7 p.m. Out of the nearly 150 JFRD firefighters responding, eight of them were injured from the explosion and one was injured from heat exhaustion. They were all sent to the hospital.
On Monday, JFRD said some parts of the ship are still burning, but the fire remains contained to the top two decks of the ship, decks 10 and 11. The fire has not spread to the lower decks, preventing any fuel from leaking into the water, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Crews have been spraying up to 25,000 gallons of water per minute onto the ship to help keep it cool. Their goal is to maintain the integrity of the ship so that it doesn't sink and cause environmental problems.