Coast Guard seeks cause of fire aboard ship in Mississippi

GULFPORT, Miss. – Officials are investigating why a U.S. Coast Guard ship briefly caught fire before dawn while docked on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Two Coast Guard members discovered that the deck of the cutter Brant was on fire around 5 a.m. Wednesday while the ship was docked at Gulfport’s Small Craft Harbor.

In a statement, the Coast Guard says the pair began trying to put the fire out with an on-board extinguisher. The Gulfport Fire Department arrived minutes later and quickly doused the blaze.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Zachary Ford said no one was injured, and thanked firefighters for the quick response.