A shelter-in-place order was lifted Monday morning as the factory trawler Kodiak Enterprise, which caught on fire while at the Trident Seafoods dock in the Hylebos Waterway of Tacoma, continues to smolder.
The Kodiak Enterprise had made a trip to Unalaska and left there on March 19, heading across the Gulf of Alaska to Tacoma, where it arrived March 25.
The reason for the fire is unknown but there are about 55,000 gallons of diesel on board and another 19,000 pounds of freon refrigerant in tanks.
The City of Tacoma Fire Department had issued a temporary shelter in place order for Northeast Tacoma, Browns Point and Dash Point neighborhoods as the fire is still threatening the freon tanks.
The tanks are designed with built-in heat-activated pressure relief valves which are designed to release the freon tanks’ pressure in an emergency situation, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. “While freon can be toxic if inhaled in large quantities or in a confined space, the release of freon into the atmosphere is not expected to pose any health and safety risks to the public.”
The fire on the 276-foot vessel started at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Black smoke filled the air and could be smelled from miles around. The three people on board were able to escape without injury.
