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A fire on a capsized cargo ship off the Georgia coast has been extinguished using seawater

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GEORGIA – The fiery wreckage of a cargo ship off the Georgia coast has been extinguished, according to a press release from the St. Simons Sound Incident Unified Command, as responding firefighter teams continue to monitor for additional flames.

The wreckage of the 656-foot Golden Ray caught fire during salvage operations on Friday and seawater was used to extinguish the blaze, according to the US Coast Guard.
“Early this evening our firefighting teams successfully put out the fire inside the Golden Ray wreck,” said Coast Guard Cmdr. Efren Lopez. “Safety is our highest priority and every member of the response displayed tremendous commitment to ensuring that emergency plans were followed during the entire fire fighting and evacuation evolution.”

The Golden Ray caught fire just after lunchtime during cutting operations and spread to some of the vehicles remaining on what’s left of the ship, Lopez said in an earlier news conference.
Seawater was being used to put out the fire instead of chemicals, he said, minimizing any environmental concerns.
The Coast Guard also is monitoring air quality around the vessel and has not seen anything that would cause concern, Lopez said.
An assessment will be done to see how the fire started, he said, which was located on the top decks of the ship.
Responders were conducting pre-cutting operations and actively using fire-suppression systems as a preventative measure when the fire began, Lopez said, adding that the Coast Guard anticipated fires breaking out as workers began work on cutting the wreckage.

An assessment will be done to see how the fire started, he said, which was located on the top decks of the ship.
Responders were conducting pre-cutting operations and actively using fire-suppression systems as a preventative measure when the fire began, Lopez said, adding that the Coast Guard anticipated fires breaking out as workers began work on cutting the wreckage.

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