Lack of Hydrants Hampered Operation at Cruise Ship Dock Fire in Whittier, AK
Zaz Hollander
Anchorage Daily News, Alaska
(TNS)
Sep. 15—Fire crews responding Monday to a blaze at a new, $80 million cruise ship dock in the Prince William Sound community of Whittier say they engineered an impromptu water shuttle after encountering no working hydrants in the area.
The fire resulted in no reported injuries. Emergency response access prompted an hourslong closure of the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel leading in and out of the community.
A cruise ship, the Norwegian Jade, appeared to fight the fire with on-board equipment before departing the area, according to social media posts and photos from witnesses on Monday. The ship was not involved in the fire.
The fire did do "significant damage" to the Klondike Express, a 137-foot, high-speed catamaran operated by Phillips Cruises & Tours, according to Casey Neumann, a managing partner with the company. The Klondike, built in 1999, was moored at the dock unoccupied and not powered at the time the fire began, she said.
"It started on the dock and it spread to the Klondike," Neumann said Tuesday, of the fire's origin. Phillips towed the vessel away from the dock and plans to repair it in time for next season, she said.
The fire at the north cruise ship terminal was reported around 11 a.m. Monday and extinguished early Tuesday morning, authorities say.
"There is an ongoing investigation into the cause of the incident," Faba said.
The Anchorage Fire Department, along with Girdwood Fire and Rescue, provided assistance to Whittier's fire department on Monday as did emergency services from Moose Pass, Bear Creek, and Cooper Landing.
As the incident developed, the city requested mutual-aid assistance from the regional fire and emergency response agencies, according to an update from Whittier city officials Tuesday afternoon.
"Firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical personnel, marine responders, dispatch centers, and state and federal partners coordinated a large-scale response by land and water," the update said.
The lack of any nearby functional hydrants complicated the response, Anchorage fire officials said Tuesday in a social media post.
Firefighters from Anchorage and Girdwood used water tenders and other equipment to establish a water shuttle, according to representatives of both departments. Tenders ran "repeated 10-minute loops between the incident scene and a working hydrant in Whittier to keep the water supply running ...," the Anchorage Fire Department post said.
Girdwood fire Chief Michelle Weston put a conservative estimate at the amount of water moved at 161,000 gallons. Whittier fire officials were not available for interviews Tuesday morning.
Asked about the hydrant issues, Whittier city manager Jackie Wilde directed a reporter to the state Fire Marshal's Office, which Wilde said is overseeing the ongoing fire investigation. A representative of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, which includes the fire marshal's office, was not immediately available for comment.
The dock was built by Huna Totem Corp., in partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line. It opened in September 2025 and booked multiple sailings this year. There were only a few more sailings scheduled this month as the season winds down.
The commissioning of the USS Ted Stevens, a U.S. Navy destroyer, was scheduled to be held at the dock in early October. The commissioning will proceed as planned on Oct. 3, but at the Princess Cruises terminal, according to the city update.
Representatives of Huna Totem and the cruise line did not immediately respond to messages left Tuesday morning.
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