Everyone on board was accounted for, but 17 sailors and four civilians suffered non-fatal injuries, according to Sobeck.
He told reporters that the sailors were in stable condition at local hospitals on Sunday night. The ship, which has a crew of 1,000, was under maintenance.
Stowell said that “as soon as the staff started to get off the ship, there was an explosion.”
“The Navy is the only one that will work from the dock side, as well as the port police in fire boats, working from the water side to contain the heat,” according to Stowell.
The flames are being fueled by office supplies and other items from the lower vehicle’s storage area where the fire started, Sobek said.
While investigators know where the fire started, they have not yet determined the cause of the fire. There was a report of an internal explosion caused by overpressurization, Sobeck said.
A shelter for all non-responding personnel at the base was ordered Sunday night to maintain a 1,800-yard security perimeter while the shooting continues, Sobeck said.
Two other naval ships, the USS Fitzgerald and the USS Russell, had to move away because they were threatened by the burning of Bonhomme Richard, a navy media update said Sunday afternoon. One moved around 1 pm and the second moved 30 minutes later.
Despite the damage, the ship has endured in the fire.
“We will absolutely make sure he sails again,” Sobeck said, “right now we are going to fight the fire and then we are going to work to understand what exactly happened to make sure it sails as well as possible in a very close time.”
CNN’s Paul Vercammen, Artemis Moshtaghian, Mitchell McCluskey, and Mary Kay Mallonee contributed to this report.
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