DATE: Saturday, June 7, 1997                TAG: 9706070343

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ERIKA REIF, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: HAMPTON                           LENGTH:   39 lines

NEIGHBORHOOD CLEARS OUT AFTER BARGE HITS THE BANK

Hampton emergency personnel asked residents of a Grandview Beach neighborhood to evacuate their homes Friday afternoon after a barge carrying about 50 gallons of fuel crashed into a nearby embankment.

No one was injured during the voluntary evacuation of 15 to 20 homes, but the barge destroyed one residential pier and damaged at least one seawall on the Chesapeake Bay.

Those who chose to leave their homes returned at about 7:30 p.m., a few hours after the incident began.

A tugboat was towing the 235-foot barge when the towline possibly became tangled in the tug's propeller, Hampton Fire Department spokesman Rick Rickett said. The barge's crew of four cut the tow line to prevent both vessels from sinking, he said.

The barge, owned by Eastern Marine Equipment Inc. of Carrollton, was returning after hauling 672,000 gallons of aviation fuel known as JP-8 to Langley Air Force Base.

About 50 gallons of fuel remained in the barge's pipelines, creating a small possibility of explosion, Rickett said.

The fire department was also concerned that the drifting barge would slam into Grandview Fishing Pier, about 1,000 yards downshore, or that the barge would sink and have to be retrieved.

The company sent three additional tugboats to haul the disabled tug and barge back to Norshipco in Norfolk for repairs. Coast Guard ground and sea personnel monitored the accident and are investigating.

Residents of Lighthouse Drive were scared when the barge first broke loose because the vessel had `Danger' printed all over it, said homeowner Edmond Robertson.

He watched as the barge's corner tore out a piece of his seawall when a tugboat pulled it away. Robertson said the ground trembled when the barge hit the rocks. Another resident said it sounded like cannons in the distance. KEYWORDS: U.S. COAST GUARD ACCIDENT BOAT BARGE

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