NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) — A massive fire broke out Tuesday morning on a barge carrying huge piles of scrap metal on the Delaware Bay.
The U.S. Coast Guard responded after 8 a.m. to reports of the fire and dispatched a helicopter and two boats, Petty Officer First Class Matthew West said.
A tugboat was moving the unmanned barge at the time of the fire, West said, adding there were no injuries. The Delaware Bay is an estuary of the Delaware River between Delaware and New Jersey.
Ship traffic also was not impacted by the fire that was still burning several hours later, he said. The barge appeared to be standing still as boats on both sides of it fired water cannons into the piles of burning metal. Smoke billowed from several fires aboard the boat, and its location was shifting to the New Jersey side of the bay.
West said the cause of the fire remained under investigation.
The barge is carrying salvage metal and is being moved to shallow water where it can be secured to allow responders on-scene to extinguish the fire and complete salvage operations.
The agencies responding include Wilmington Fire Department, Good Will Fire Company, Leipsic Volunteer Fire Company, Bowers Fire Company, South Bowers Fire Company, Delaware State Police, DNREC, the New Castle County Office of Emergency Management, Kent County Department of Public Safety, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) and the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay. The Philadelphia Fire Department is enroute to assist.
