On September 16, 1991 the Seattle Fire Department successfully extinguished a major fire aboard a fish processing ship, the 324-foot Omnisea, which was docked and undergoing refitting at Pier 91. (See Area Map in Appendix A.) The fire started from a cutting and welding operation. It burned undetected in the absence of a firewatch while the crew took a coffee break. Rather than fight the fire as a structure fire using water, the Seattle Fire Department’s Marine Unit made the strategic decision to use carbon dioxide as the prime extinguishing agent. Handlines and monitors were used to cool hazardous materials stored on the deck, to cool the ship deck and hulls and to keep the fire from spreading to the pier. An interior defense was made of the aft third of the ship while the CO2 was being set up.