Fire aboard USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier injures two sailors

A fire in the main laundry area of the US Navy’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, injured two sailors on March 12, the Navy’s 5th Fleet said. The blaze has been contained and was not related to combat operations, and the 100,000-ton carrier remains fully operational.

The injured sailors are in stable condition and are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, CNN reports.

The laundry fire is the latest in a series of technical issues affecting the $13-billion carrier and its crew of around 4,500 during its current deployment, which began last June from its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia.

Earlier reports noted longstanding problems with the ship’s plumbing, including multiple calls for external maintenance support during recent operations in the Caribbean.

At the time of the fire, the Gerald R. Ford was in the Red Sea, moving south from the Mediterranean following recent US strikes on Iran.

The carrier’s deployment has seen it travel from Norfolk to the Mediterranean, back across the Atlantic to the Caribbean in support of operations near Venezuela, and now into the Middle East.

A second US aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, is also deployed to the Middle East. 

By Sabina Mammadli