A fire broke out Saturday on the fishing vessel Kodiak Enterprise while it was docked in Hylebos Waterway in the Port of Tacoma. And according to the EPA, the Tacoma Fire Department has issued a temporary shelter in place order for northeast Tacoma neighborhoods.

Smoke from the fire has worsened the air quality in the area. The temporary order is for the Northeast Tacoma, Browns Point and Dash Point neighborhoods. According to a news release from the EPA, the fire has been going for more than 24 hours and is nearing the boat’s freon tanks.

Tacoma fire crews work to put out a fire that broke out Saturday on the fishing vessel Kodiak Enterprise, while it was docked in Hylebos Waterway in the Port of Tacoma in Tacoma, Wash. on April 10, 2023. Cheyenne Boone The News Tribune
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Tacoma Fire Battalion Chief Todd Magliocca said the fire was first reported at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Crews were still battling the fire by 3:30 p.m. Sunday. No injuries have been reported.

Magliocca said there’s no indication what started the fire. He said crews worked for 18 hours straight on April 8, until the heat of the fire made it untenable. He said that night was the last time crews were able to put water directly on the fire, and the vessel is now inaccessible. Crews can only spray water on the outside of the ship to keep the fire contained and the ship upright, Magliocca said.

The vessel is carrying 19,000 pounds of freon, according to the release. If the fire reaches the tanks, it will set off a heat-triggered mechanism that will release freon into the atmosphere to prevent pressure from increasing. Freon can be harmful to people if inhaled in large quantities or in confined spaces, but it poses no health or safety risks being released in this manner.

The Department of Ecology posted on Twitter that it had crews helping fight the fire. According to the department, there was no oil spill from the boat, but crews placed booms, or floating barriers, around the boat as a precaution for spillage. The waterway is still closed to all activity.

At one point, the smoke caused the air quality to be unhealthy for sensitive groups downwind of Browns Point in Northeast Tacoma. The EPA is continuing to monitor the air quality and is asking people to avoid prolonged exposure to smoky conditions. Magliocca said the shelter-in-place order is indefinite until crews can contain the fire. He said firefighters notified some nearby businesses directly, and the department utilized a phone notification service for the residential neighborhoods affected.

This story was originally published April 09, 2023 10:37 AM.