Lake Charles Tugboat Engine Room Fire Extinguished

The Coast Guard informs that along with the Black Bayou Fire Department it has responded to a tugboat on fire near Lake Charles, Louisiana.

At approximately 1:15 p.m., Tuesday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Command Center received a report from the captain of the tug vessel Garyville, that there was a fire in the engine room. Watchstanders launched a boatcrew from Station Lake Charles to respond.

The Black Bayou Fire Department arrived shortly after and the boatcrew transported the fire crew from shore to the tugboat. The fire crew utilized a portable pump to extinguish the fire.

The tug vessel Grayville was pushing two barges loaded with gasoline at the time of the fire, but was able to release the barges to the charge of the nearby tug vessel Woody Richardson.There have been no reports of pollution. The cause of the fire is unknown.

“The quick notification we received from the captain of the tug vessel was essential in this case and allowed for us to get a crew out to the scene right away,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Jeff Linberg, an operations specialist at Sector Houston-Galveston.