A fire broke out Wednesday night on Alabama's Mobile
River after two barges loaded with natural gas exploded not far from where a
once listless
Carnival cruise ship was docked.
Steve Huffman with Mobile Fire and Rescue said
conditions remain too volatile for fire crews to approach. At least six
explosions have been reported and were heard up to 20 miles away.
Just half a mile across the river, Alan Waugh, the
general manager at the Ft. Conde Inn, said he saw and heard the initial
explosion when it happened.
He added "We were up on a second
floor balcony and the sky lit up in orange and yellow."It sounded like
planes above you dropping bombs when it first went off."
Huffman said Wednesday night that authorities hadn't
determined what caused the blasts, but were in the process of being prepped for
reload when the explosion happened. The fire department's Twitter feed said
they were filed with gasoline.
A one-mile safety zone has been set up around the
barges, U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Eric King said. Authorities have closed the
shipping channel and were letting the fires burn.
Three people who were burned were transported to a
local hospital, according to Huffman.
All people from the scene are believed to have been
accounted for, Huffman said.
The fires burned near the docking area of the Carnival
Triumph, he added. The Triumph has been based at the BAE Shipyard in the Port
of Mobile since an engine fire in February left it crippled and adrift in the
Gulf of Mexico with more than 4,200 people aboard.
For four days, tugboats guided the disabled ship into
the port as passengers complained about miserable conditions onboard.
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