USS Miami fire - A 24-year-old Casey James Fury set fire to the USS Miami nuclear submarine so he could "leave work early." Police say the civilian painter admitted to setting two fires that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the vessel.A man who set two fires to a nuclear-powered submarine, causing $400 million in damage, admitted he did it because he wanted to leave work early.
Casey James Fury, 24, was working aboard the USS Miami in Kittery, Maine as a civilian painter and sandblaster when he purposefully set two fires this summer, according to a criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court in Maine.
Fury, who initially denied involvement in either incident, finally told investigators he was responsible for both fires after submitting to a polygraph test, and blamed his anxiety and a conversation with his ex-girlfriend for making him snap.
The first fire was set on May 23 around 5:30 p.m. while the submarine was in dry dock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The blaze raged for 12 hours until firefighters were able to put it out, and the Navy estimated it caused $400 million dollars in damage.
Less than a month later, on June 16, another fire started in the dry dock crade of the submarine. This time the flames were quickly extinguished and “little or no damage” was caused, according to the complaint.
Fury gave two sworn statements that he had simply been a witness to both fires, but when interviewed by investigators again on July 18, he admitted having set the June 16 fire.
He blamed a heated text-message exchange with an ex-girlfriend, explaining he started trying to "convince her that the guy she started seeing was not just a friend like she had been claiming,” according to an affidavit filed by Navy investigator Jeremy Gauthier.
"Fury explained that he became anxious over the text exchange with his ex-girlfriend and wanted to leave work," Gauthier wrote.
In the wake of this conversation with his former girlfriend, Fury said his “mind was racing” by 6:30 p.m., so he stuffed a bag of alcohol wipes in a corner of the submarine and lit it on fire.
Despite this admission, Fury continued to deny he had been involved in the first fire until July 20, when he submitted to a lie-detector test for Navy investigators. There, he admitted he had also set the May 23 fire to get out of work because his anxiety was “getting ready bad.”
He said he started it by lighting plastic bags filled with rags on fire, and walked investigators through the ship to demonstrate his actions, according to the affidavit.
Fury said he initially lied about not being involved "because he was scared" and that the numerous medications he was on made “everything blurry to him.”
He checked himself into a mental health facility on June 21 and checked himself out on June 23.
Fury, who made his first court appearance Monday, has been scheduled to appear at a hearing next month, according to The Associated Pres. He is charged with two counts of arson and reportedly faces life in prison or a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.