Firefighting equipment sabotaged ahead of massive fire aboard USS Bonhomme, warrant says
The fire equipment aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard was allegedly tampered with before a massive blaze broke out aboard the amphibious assault vehicle, greatly hindering efforts to battle back the flames.
According to a search warrant unsealed on Tuesday by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, three of four firefighting stations aboard the 27,565-ton military vessel were either not set up properly or sabotaged. In one station, none of the hoses were properly connected, rendering them inoperable, while a hose at another station was cut entirely.
The Navy on Thursday announced it had charged a sailor with sparking the brutal fire, which burned for more than four days starting on July 12, 2020. His name has not been released, but he was identified on Tuesday by his attorney as Seaman Apprentice Ryan Mays, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Mays, now 20, is facing a single count of arson.
According to the arrest warrant, a search of the storage area, where the fire began, turned up an uncapped plastic bottle with trace amounts of liquid later identified as heavy petroleum distillate. The flammable liquid was discovered on another three bottles, some of them with holes poked in the middle of their caps, and aluminum cans, NBC San Diego reported.
May first enlisted in the Navy in 2019 with the hopes of completing the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUDS) training program. But just five days in, he opted to quit the grueling course and was ultimately assigned to USS Bonhomme Richard as an undesignated seaman. According to the arrest warrant, it’s not uncommon for sailors who drop out of the BUDS program to have behavioral issues afterward.
