Story highlights
Scaffolding caught fire on a dock in northwest Russia, state media reports
The flames spread to the hull of a docked nuclear submarine
The fire was "localized" early Friday, an official tells a state news agency
A local governor says the sub's reactors were shut down and radiation didn't spread
Scores of emergency personnel on Thursday helped battle a fire that burned a docked Russian nuclear submarine, state media reported.
Wooden scaffolding caught fire Thursday afternoon at a repair dock in Roslyakovo, which is in the Murmansk region in northwest Russia along the Barents Sea, the official Itar-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies reported. The flames spread to hull of the nuclear submarine Yekaterinburg, where work had been underway.
About 100 emergency personnel responded, using 40 pieces of firefighting and other equipment to spray foam and water to douse the blaze, the regional emergency ministry said according to Itar-Tass.
Gov. Dmitry Dmitrienko said that the submarine’s nuclear reactors were then shut down and there was no threat of radiation spreading, the news agency reported.
Capt. Vadim Sega, a spokesman for Russia’s northern fleet, added that the fire never penetrated the hull and got inside the ship.
“There is no possibility of fire burning through the hull, and no threat to on-board equipment,” Sega said Thursday, according to RIA-Novosti.
The emergency ministry said Thursday that there had been no injuries, reported this news agency. The nuclear sub, itself, was partially submerged to minimize damage.
The fire continued into Friday despite initial reports it had been extinguished, Itar-Tass reported. By 1:40 a.m., (4:40 p.m. ET Thursday), the blaze had been “localized,” Russian Emergency Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
One of seven Delta-IV class submarines in operation, the Yekaterinburg carries 16 ballistic missiles. According to the military research website RusNavy.com, the vessel was launched in September 1984, has two nuclear reactors and can carry a 140-person crew.
