Whaaaa?! USAToday: Maine shipyard worker charged with arson for $400M sub fire

Last edited Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:58 AM - Edit history (1)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/07/maine-naval-shipyard-worked-charged-with-arson-over-sub-fire/1#.UA4AICJiLTo
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Maine shipyard worker charged with arson for $400M sub fire[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]A Portsmouth Naval Shipyard worker has been charged with arson for allegedly starting a $400 million fire aboard a U.S. submarine after suffering an anxiety attack, according to news reports.

--snip--

According to the criminal complaint filed today, Fury, a civilian painter, had been "needle-gunning" -- removing rust, paint and scale -- in the torpedo room May 23 but became anxious after about 90 minutes. Navy investigators say he takes medications for anxiety and depression.

He left with his cigarettes and Bic lighter and went up to a midlevel stateroom, where he found a vacuum and rags on a bunk. "He set the aforementioned rags on fire with a Bic lighter and after seeing flames approximately two inches high on the rags, he departed the state room, went to the torpedo room and returned to needle-gunning," the complaint said.

In early June, the Navy said a preliminary investigation had determined that the fire began in a vacuum cleaner that was "used to clean worksites at end of shift" and that was "stored in an unoccupied space." The Navy said at the time that the specifics of how the vacuum cleaner caught fire would be released in the future.

I honestly don't know what to make of this. It is very odd, to say the absolute least...

Full PDF of the criminal complaint can be found here:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/static/linked/20120723_caseyFuryComplaint.pdf

PB