Fuel barges explode, causing large fire in Ala.

A massive explosion at 3a.m. EDT on one of the two barges still ablaze in the Mobile River in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday, April 25, 2013. Three people were injured in the blast. Fire officials have pulled units back from fighting the fire due to the explosions and no immediate threat to lives. (AP Photo John David Mercer) Three people were hospitalized with burns. Information on their conditions was not immediately available.MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A huge fire resulting from explosions aboard two fuel barges in Mobile, Ala. has been extinguished.

Mobile Fire-Rescue spokesman Steve Huffman said in a statement to The Associated Press Thursday morning that the fire was out and that it appeared to be accidental.
The fire started Wednesday night. Three people were severely burned.

U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Vega said Thursday that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Firefighters from Mobile and Coast Guard officials responded after 8:30 p.m. CDT Wednesday to a pair of explosions involving the gas barges in the Mobile River east of downtown. Additional explosions followed over the next few hours.

Authorities say three people were brought to University of South Alabama Medical Center for burn-related injuries.