Navy charges sailor with setting fire that destroyed USS Bonhomme Richard

The Navy has charged a sailor with setting the fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard last July and injured over 60 sailors and civilians. Navy officials say they do not believe the sailor, whose name was not released, intended to destroy the ship, but the blaze he set was whipped by high winds into a towering inferno.

In a statement, the Navy said charges were brought against a sailor in response to evidence found during the criminal investigation into the fire. The sailor, who holds the rank of seaman apprentice, was a member of the ship's crew at the time.  The fire, which started on a Sunday morning while the ship was undergoing an overhaul in San Diego, burned for four days before it was finally put out. Extinguishing the fire required hundreds of military and civilian firefighters, as well as helicopters dumping water.