Engineer: Navy warship fire might be electrical, not arson

"An electrical engineer who examined the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard after it was destroyed by fire last year testified Wednesday that it might have started with an electrical malfunction rather than arson.

Andrew Thoresen was hired by the defense attorneys representing the junior sailor accused of setting the fire aboard the ship. He told a military court during a preliminary hearing that he found highly combustible lithium ion batteries with their caps blown off and a copper cable with a melted end in the engine of a forklift, indicating it may have sparked the fire."