6A ❚ TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020 ❚ USA TODAY NEWS
Fire continues on USS Bonhomme Richard
57 firefighters injured in 1,000 degrees, Sobeck said. The top pri-
ority is preventing heat and flames from
blaze aboard Navy vessel reaching the ship’s fuel tanks, which
hold 1 million gallons of petroleum.
Tom Vanden Brook Plastic, rags, drywall and cardboard
USA TODAY stored in a vast hold have fueled the
flames.
WASHINGTON – Firefighters, backed Helicopters and tug boats are pour-
by helicopters, were still battling the ing water on the ship to cool it and ex-
blaze raging Monday aboard the Navy’s tinguish the fire.
USS Bonhomme Richard, more than 24 “We’re still using helos to dump wa-
hours after flames were first reported at ter,” said Lt. Cdr. Nicole Schwegman, a
its pier in San Diego. Navy spokeswoman.
The fire and efforts to contain it have It’s unclear how long it will take to
injured 57 firefighters, including 34 sail- control the fire.
ors. Most of the injuries have been mi- The cause of the fire aboard Bon-
nor, including heat exhaustion and homme Richard, an amphibious assault
smoke inhalation. Five personnel re- vessel, is unknown, Sobeck said. The
main hospitalized in stable condition, ship was undergoing maintenance
said Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, com- when the fire began. All crew members
mander of Expeditionary Strike Group have been accounted for.
3, at a briefing for reporters Monday. Sailors reported the fire at about 8:30
Damage has been extensive, includ- a.m. PDT Sunday. Firefighters from the
ing to the ship’s upper decks and super- Navy, federal and local departments
structure. The ship is listing, and sailors have worked in shifts to deal with ex-
are working to keep it stable, Sobeck treme heat.
said. The Navy sent two destroyers, the
Firefighters are still battling a blaze on the Navy’s USS Bonhomme Richard more The fire erupted well below the deck USS Fitzgerald and USS Russell, away
than 24 hours after flames were first reported. ORLANDO RAMIREZ/USA TODAY NETWORK and generated extreme heat, reaching from their berths to avoid damage.
1st federal
execution
in 17 years
delayed
Judge issues new ruling
in ongoing legal battle
Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY
A judge in Washington ordered a
delay Monday of the first federal exe-
cution in 17 years, along with two other
executions scheduled this week, con-
cluding that the condemned inmates
had not exhausted their challenges to
the government’s execution protocols.
The decision came hours before
Daniel Lewis Lee was set to die by le-
thal injection at the federal prison
complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.
“Because the public is not served by
short-circuiting legitimate judicial
process, and is greatly served by at-
tempting to ensure that the most seri- Visitors crowd a beach in Santa Monica, Calif., Sunday despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/AP
ous punishment is imposed in a man-
ner consistent with our Constitution,
the court finds that it is in the public
interest to issue a preliminary injunc-
tion,” U.S. District Judge Tanya Chut-
kan wrote.
Southern US scorched by
“The public is not served
record-breaking heat wave
by short-circuiting legitimate Doyle Rice in New Orleans warned. people when compared to that of the
judicial process.” Dozens of record highs were set
USA TODAY Southwest, especially in heavily urban-
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan across the Southwest on Sunday. ized areas where there is little breeze
In a decision ordering a delay of the executions Extreme, record-breaking heat will Sunday, Phoenix had its hottest day during the afternoon and early evening
bake a large portion of the southern since July 25, 2018, soaring to a record hours,” AccuWeather meteorologist
tier of the USA early this week. 116 degrees, weather.com said. The city Alex Sosnowski said.
Friday, an Indiana federal judge After a sweltering weekend, heat is threatening its record-long streak of This dangerous heat is the result of a
blocked Lee’s execution, citing the advisories and excessive heat warn- daily low temperatures that did not drop large ridge of high pressure that stretch-
threat posed by the resurgent corona- ings remained in place Monday across out of the 90s. es from the Desert Southwest to the
virus. the southern USA all the way from Palm Springs, California, hit a record Deep South; the center is anchored over
U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus- Southern California to the Florida Pan- high of 121, the weather service said. the southern Rockies, according to
Stinson acted on a legal challenge handle, and there was the potential for California’s notorious hot spot, Death WeatherBug.
brought by family members of the vic- more record high temperatures and Valley, soared to 128 degrees Sunday, Southerly winds associated with this
tims who asserted that the pandemic very dangerous heat indices, the Na- and its overnight low was a searing 100 system will pump very warm air north-
posed an unreasonable health risk to tional Weather Service said. degrees, according to the weather ser- ward, resulting in the mercury climbing
them as prospective witnesses. Temperatures could come within a vice. to levels 5 to 20 degrees above normal
An appeals court reversed that de- few degrees of record highs set as far In the South, temperatures near 100 for this time of year, WeatherBug said.
cision Sunday night, concluding that back as the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, degrees and high humidity will make it According to weather.com, the dome
the challenge “lacks any arguable legal AccuWeather said. feel like it is 105 to 115 in some areas this of high pressure responsible for the
basis and is therefore frivolous.” “Excessively hot temperatures and week, ABC News reported. Southwest heat wave will expand and
Lawyers for Earlene Peterson, 81, high humidity may cause heat ill- “When combined with higher humid- stretch east across much of the rest of
and other family members not only nesses to occur,” the weather service ity levels, it could feel worse to some the country late this week.
cited the health risks involving their
planned travel to Indiana but claimed
that federal prison officials could not
provide adequate assurances once
they arrived at the prison complex. NY 18-year-old dies saving 2 friends at beach
The family planned to attend Lee’s
execution, even though they are op- Ryan W. Miller after hours of searching, his family said. not far out there that he did this,” Mark
posed to his death sentence for the USA TODAY The Coast Guard said the search along Alston said.
murders of William Mueller, his wife, with Ventnor City Police Department Alston said his brother and the two
Nancy, and her daughter, Sarah Pow- A New York high school graduate spanned 58 square-miles people he saved were all in the water
ell. was praised as a hero after he died off a over 13 hours. amid rough conditions from Tropical
Peterson, Sarah’s grandmother, New Jersey beach saving two friends’ “Our deepest condo- Storm Fay. Jalan was close to the beach
said Lee’s co-defendant was the un- lives while swimming. lences go out to the fam- and could have run to the land and
questioned ringleader in the robbery- Jalan Alston, 18, went missing Fri- ily and friends of Jalan,” called for help but instead went deeper
murder in 1996 yet was sentenced to day after he went in the water at Vent- said Capt. Jonathan into the water to save his friends, Mark
life in prison. nor Beach to help his two friends who Theel, commander of Alston said.
The Arkansas judge who presided were struggling, the U.S. Coast Guard Coast Guard Sector Dela- Alston “He’s not here because he wanted to
at trial and the lead prosecutor in the said in a statement. ware Bay. “It’s always dif- save people,” Alston said.
case also have expressed their opposi- Alston pushed the swimmers to- ficult to suspend a case, and it weighs Alston said his brother, who just
tion to Lee’s death sentence. ward the land but could not make it out especially heavy on our hearts knowing graduated from George Westinghouse
Two other inmates, Wesley Purkey of the water himself, the Coast Guard that he was helping others.” High School in Brooklyn, wanted to be-
and Dustin Honken, were scheduled said. One of his friends called 911, and Mark Alston, 23, told USA TODAY come an engineer and planned to take
for execution Wednesday and Friday, soon Coast Guard personnel were that his brother was always “really car- the civil service exam in the fall. A Go-
respectively, at the federal Terre Haute searching for the teen. ing.” FundMe was started to help the family
complex. Alston’s body was found Saturday “He would do things for you, so it’s cover funeral costs.
