Tacoma ship fire worse for climate than burning a million gallons of gasoline

A major fire at the Port of Tacoma has had global as well as local consequences.

Neighborhoods in Tacoma and Federal Way, Washington, were ordered to stay indoors for two days to avoid smoke from Trident Seafoods’ Kodiak Enterprise, a factory-sized fishing boat that started burning Saturday morning.

The Puyallup Tribe’s boats couldn’t get out to harvest geoducks in Puget Sound once the U.S. Coast Guard closed the industrialized Hylebos Waterway, where the Kodiak Enterprise is docked, to all boat traffic.

First responders said the fire was winding down Tuesday evening—not soon enough to stop the disaster from having global as well as local consequences.

The fire on the Kodiak Enterprise released tons of one of the most dangerous substances for the global climate and the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

Firefighters attempted to keep tanks containing nearly 10 tons of the coolant Freon from overheating and releasing their contents to the atmosphere.