Fireboats, crews put out blaze aboard military ship docked near Canton

Baltimore City fire crews extinguished a blaze on former U.S. Navy ship MV Charles L. Gilliland in the Canton Industrial Area on Monday.

Firefighters received reports of a fire near the 2000 block of South Clinton Street around 11 a.m. Fireboats and trucks responded to the ship and found two lifeboats with “heavy fire conditions,” department spokesperson Khalilah Yancey said in a statement.

The fire was quickly brought under control, Yancey said. The department issued a second alarm in case additional resources were needed.

The 954-foot vessel was built in 1972 as a commercial container ship but was acquired by the Navy in 1996. The ship was named USNS Gilliland after Medal of Honor recipient Cpl. Gilliland, the youngest person to receive that honor in the Korean War.

The Gilliland was removed from the Naval register in 2023 and transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration’s Ready Reserve Force, where the ship transports Army and Marine Corps equipment during rapid deployments worldwide.

The ship was assigned to Baltimore in 2024. The Baltimore Harbor is one of several ports selected by military planners to minimize sailing time to strategic locations.

The U.S. Maritime Administration didn’t respond to a request for comment.

No one was injured, Yancey said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Banner reporter Courtney Knight contributed to this article.