A significant fire aboard the container vessel ONE Henry Hudson at the Port of Los Angeles prompted a rapid and comprehensive emergency response late Friday. The blaze, detected around 6:38 PM, is believed to have originated from an electrical malfunction below deck. This quickly escalated to involve multiple lower compartments and triggered an explosion on the mid-deck, which disrupted the ship’s internal power systems, resulting in the loss of lighting and the suspension of crane operations.
In response to the emergency, nearly 200 firefighters were mobilized for a coordinated land-and-water firefighting operation. Fireboats were dispatched from the harbor to combat the blaze while Hazardous Materials (HazMat) teams monitored air quality due to hazardous materials identified in several container bays. Given the severity of the fire and the presence of potentially dangerous substances, authorities issued a temporary shelter-in-place order for nearby neighborhoods to ensure public safety.
All 23 crew members aboard the vessel were successfully evacuated, and fortunately, there were no reported injuries. As the firefighting efforts intensified, the ship was relocated by tugboats to an anchorage near Angel’s Gate Lighthouse, allowing for continued cooling and firefighting operations without further risk to port infrastructure.
By early Saturday morning, the situation had improved sufficiently for the Port of Los Angeles to lift the shelter-in-place advisory. Furthermore, by the end of the weekend, four out of the port’s seven container terminals resumed service, signaling a return to normalcy in port operations despite the earlier disruptions caused by the fire. The coordinated response involved multiple agencies and highlights the challenges of dealing with maritime emergencies, particularly in densely populated and commercially critical areas like the Port of Los Angeles.
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