Jacksonville Fire-Rescue finds smoke, no fire on ship at Blount Island

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A large number of fire engines responded to a report of a shipboard fire at the Jacksonville Port Authority’s Blount Island docks Tuesday night, but it appears nothing was on fire.

The cargo carrier Hoegh told Jacksonville Fire and Rescue that five cars aboard the ship were on fire.

Shortly after 11:30 p.m., Jacksonville Fire-Rescue tweeted: “Command has called this situation under control.... our crews are going home.” No injuries were reported.

JFRD brought multiple infrared sensors to the ship and found no heat signature anywhere on the hull. It’s possible what the 911 caller saw was fumigation smoke as ships get fumigated for vermin before they leave port.

If the ship looks familiar, you might recall in June when a similar-looking cargo ship caught fire at Blount Island. A total of eight firefighters were injured when an explosion occurred on that ship while they were battling the fire.

In August, that ship was moved out of the terminal.