BATAAN SAILOR RECOUNTS SHIPBOARD CASUALTY

UNITED STATES

08.01.2023

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Brown 

USS Bataan (LHD 5)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 1, 2023


BATAAN SAILOR RECOUNTS SHIPBOARD CASUALTY
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matthew F. Brown

“It was around June or July, I had just got off of watch so it was maybe 8 p.m.,” said Damage Controlman (DC) 2nd Class Jose Perez-Ortiz, a damage control fireman and member of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) at-sea fire party during the ship’s 2019 deployment. “The ship had just gotten out of the Suez Canal transit and we were on a straight shot home. I vividly remember emailing my family about being exhausted and excited to come home to some home-cooked food and mid-way through writing my email, I hear the bells go off for a class bravo fire [fuel fire] in the ship’s upper vehicle stowage.”
At this time in deployment, the crew had responded to several casualties; mostly small electrical fires, minor flooding and medical emergencies, said Perez-Ortiz. So, at this moment he was under the impression that it was another casualty.
“We’re trained to be swift when responding to any casualty, so despite doing this many times we were quick to get to five main (one of the ship’s damage control lockers),” said Perez-Ortiz. “I remember getting to the locker and while I was dressing out, seeing the smoke coming up from the upper vehicle stowage and into the mess decks where we were dressing out.”
The upper vehicle stowage is located directly under the ship’s mess decks but is separated by multiple water-tight doors. The upper vehicle stowage is home to an array of U.S. Marine Corps vehicles, strategically parked to fit as many vehicles as possible while wasting little to no space.
“To this day, I’m not sure how the smoke got all the way to the mess decks but it was at this point we knew we were in for a major casualty,” said Perez-Ortiz. “I’m not going to lie, when I saw that smoke coming all the way from the upper vehicle stowage into the mess decks, I felt a little panic start to kick in.”
Perez-Ortiz said his leadership at the time, DC1 Esther Rolonsoto and DC1 Dwayne Register, did a good job of giving orders, and bringing the team back to their training and into the right head space.
“You never really think about the importance of damage control readiness but I thank God that all the maintenance on the SCBAs [self-contained breathing apparatus] and AFFF [Aqueous Film Forming Foam] hose reels was done correctly because you never know what’s going to happen.”
An SCBA is essential to firefighting as it provides it’s user with oxygen. AFFF is vital to subduing fuel fires.
“I remember walking down the ramp and actually seeing the fire for the first time,” said Perez-Ortiz. “It was kind of surreal. We went through three team changes and it all happened so quickly. It really wasn’t me fighting the fire or making any of the decisions, it was my training kicking in and taking over, and it was like second nature.”
Perez-Ortiz said the outcome of the casualty was impressive when taking into account how badly the situation could have gone.
“When you think about it, that could have gone way south,” said Perez-Ortiz. “We all reverted to our training and it payed off. It is things like this that really show you how extremely important training is. When the real thing happens, there is no DCTT [Damage Control Training Team], DCTT is fighting the fire with you. There are no ‘buddy checks’. No one is there to make sure you’re doing everything right. You just have to know.”
The 2019 deployment at-sea fire party was able to subdue the fuel fire before any major damages could occur.
While the ship’s current fire marshal was not yet stationed on the ship when the casualty occurred, Senior Chief Damage Controlman Jameson Siegrist said it is reasons like this that he urges Sailors to take training seriously.
Siegrist said when he conducts his training, he brings up casualties that previously occurred in the Navy like USS Stark 1987, USS Cole 2000, USS George Washington 2008, USS Fitzgerald 2017, USS John S. Mcain, USS Bohnhome Richard; all of which resulted in significant damage, loss of ship or loss of life.
“You may not take the training serious because you’re not identified as primary attack team or secondary attack team but when these fires get out of control like that everyone is going to have to step up,” said Siegrist. “We have to learn all the different responsibilities because you never know when you’re going to be put in a position you’re uncomfortable with.”
Siegrist said when we do training onboard we are, to an extent, trying to instill a second nature into the Sailors.
“There’s definitely a lot of research saying that in stressful situations you’re going to fall back on your training,” said Siegrist. “We train a lot and we try to train in a way so that when an actual casualty happens, it is second nature.”
Siegrist said that he tries to stress real world application during training as much as possible.
“We fight like we train, and even though training can be boring sometimes, make the best out of every drill,” said Siegrist. “Really think about the history of these casualties on other ships and put yourself in that position while you’re going through these drills rather than thinking when this is going to be over. Put yourself out there, learn another position that you’re not comfortable with. Understand that when a major fire happens it’s going to take everybody on the ship, it’s not going to be just the assigned fire team. It won’t matter what your rank or paygrade is when there’s a fire. Everybody is a firefighter on the ship.”
-30-

• Date Taken: 08.01.2023
• Date Posted: 10.24.2023 03:02
• Story ID: 456369
• Location: US