U.S. Bureau of Alcohol

Experts Criticize ATF, Navy Finding on Cause of Bonhomme Richard Fire; Case Against Sailor Pending U.S. 3rd Fleet Decision

A San Diego Federal Fire firefighter rests after combating a fire aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on July 12, 2020. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – An expert in electrical engineering told a Navy court that an electrical short in a forklift or some faulty batteries could have sparked the fire that ultimately scuttled the former USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), countering the Navy’s acceptance from a federal fire investigation that a disgruntled sailor deliberately set it.

A...

ATF Investigator: Bonhomme Richard Fire Deliberately Set, No Direct Physical Evidence Points to Accused Sailor

Fire aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) at Naval Base San Diego on July 12, 2020. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – The fire that eventually destroyed much of the former USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) likely was deliberately set to ignite cardboard boxes in a stowage area packed with assorted items that fire investigators ruled out as the ignition source, a federal fire investigator testified in a Navy court Monday.

Matthew Beals, a special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and...

https://news.usni.org/2021/12/14/atf-investigator-bonhomme-richard-fire-deliberately-set-no-direct-physical-evidence-points-to-accused-sailor