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APNewsBreak: Inquiry Cites Complacency in Sub Fire

By David Sharp and Jennifer McDermott, The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine - An investigation into a fire that crippled a U.S. submarine concludes that the Navy was complacent about fire safety during shipyard repairs and put too much faith in firefighters who'd never trained to battle a blaze aboard a submarine.

The Navy investigators say there was confusion at the start of the fire in May 2012 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. They also say there were two hour-long periods in which the fire wasn't being fought.

The findings are part of more than 100 pages of documents obtained by The Associated Press in a Freedom of Information Act request.

It took 12 hours and the efforts of more than 100 firefighters to save the USS Miami after a small fire set by a worker quickly spread.

The Navy ultimately decided to scrap the submarine.