III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 488 

Commending the efforts of the firefighters and emergency response personnel 

of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, who came 

together to extinguish the May 23, 2012, fire at Portsmouth Naval 

Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 7, 2012 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. LIEBERMAN, 

Mr. KERRY, Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts, Ms. COLLINS, and Ms. 

AYOTTE) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 

agreed to 

JUNE 18, 2012 

Preamble amended by unanimous consent 

RESOLUTION 

Commending the efforts of the firefighters and emergency 

response personnel of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, who came together to extinguish 

the May 23, 2012, fire at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 

in Kittery, Maine. 

Whereas the USS Miami (SSN–755), a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine with a crew of 13 officers and 

120 enlisted personnel, arrived at Portsmouth Naval 

Shipyard on March 1, 2012, for 20 months of scheduled 

maintenance; 


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SRES 488 AS 

Whereas at 5:41 p.m. EDT on May 23, 2012, a 4-alarm fire 

occurred in the forward compartment of the USS Miami; 

Whereas emergency response personnel, led by the firefighters of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, worked for nearly 10 hours in tight, obstructed quarters filled with noxious smoke and searing heat— 

(1) to prevent any loss of life; 

(2) to bring the fire under control; and 

(3) to successfully prevent the flames from reaching 

any nuclear material and allow the nuclear reactor to remain unaffected and stable throughout; 

Whereas 23 fire departments and emergency response teams 

from the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut provided mutual aid support during the fire, including— 

(1) Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire; 

(2) York County Hazardous Materials Response 

Team, Maine; 

(3) Massachusetts Port Authority Logan Airport 

Crash Team; 

(4) South Portland Fire Department, Maine; 

(5) Eliot Fire Department, Maine; 

(6) Lee Fire Department, New Hampshire; 

(7) Dover Ambulance, New Hampshire; 

(8) Portsmouth Fire Department, New Hampshire; 

(9) Hampton Fire Department, New Hampshire; 

(10) Kittery Fire Department, Maine; 

(11) Newcastle Fire Department, New Hampshire; 

(12) American Medical Response Ambulance, New 

Hampshire; 

(13) Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts; 


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SRES 488 AS 

(14) Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut; 

(15) Rye Fire Department, New Hampshire; 

(16) Greenland Fire Department, New Hampshire; 

(17) York Fire Department, Maine; 

(18) Newington Fire Department, New Hampshire; 

(19) Somersworth Fire Department, New Hampshire; 

(20) Rollinsford Fire Department, New Hampshire; 

(21) South Berwick Fire Department, Maine; 

(22) York Ambulance, Maine; and 

(23) York Beach Fire Department, Maine; and 

Whereas the heroic actions of those firefighters, emergency 

response personnel, and the USS Miami crew and shipyard firefighters, 7 of whom suffered minor injuries during the fire, directly prevented catastrophe, and greatly 

limited the severity of the fire even in the most challenging of environments: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) commends the exemplary and courageous 

3 service of all the firefighters and emergency response 

4 personnel who came together to successfully contain 

5 the fire, minimizing damage to a critical national se6 curity asset and ensuring no loss of life; and 

7 (2) expresses support for the Navy and the ex8 ceptionally skilled workforce at Portsmouth Naval 

9 Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 


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