KITTERY, Maine — U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) praised firefighters Friday morning for their courageous efforts in battling a five-alarm blaze aboard the USS Miami, a submarine undergoing repairs at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard two days prior.

Shaheen said while they were not allowed inside the nuclear submarine due to the investigation, the two senators, who both serve on the Armed Forces Service Committee, were able to get “a sense of the challenge” firefighters had to overcome to get the situation under control.

“I can't imagine the courage it took to go in,” Collins said, praising the well-established network of firefighters from 20 surrounding communities who responded to provide mutual aid.

While the crew and the firefighters stationed at the base are trained to deal with a fire aboard a submarine, the task of extinguishing it required more resources than they had.

Firefighters from four states — including crews from Pease Air Force Base in Newington, Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, Logan International Airport in Boston, Mass., and the Naval Base in Groton, Conn. — responded around 5:40 p.m. and fought the fire until it was extinguished around 4 a.m. Thursday.

Five firefighters, including two from PNSY, and two crew members were injured during the fire, but they were all treated and have recovered from their injuries.

Collins and Shaheen said so many communities responded to the fire that they were afraid to provide a list as they feared of missing one.

“It really was an amazing cooperative effort,” Collins said.

The additional manpower, specialized crews from nearby airfields and their counterparts from Groton proved invaluable, according to PNSY firefighter Michael Mulhorn, of Kittery Point, Maine.

“It's good to have support from guys who know how to do it,” Mulhorn said. “It's a unique job to fight a fire on a sub.”

Nonetheless, Mulhorn said many firefighters from area communities followed the lead of naval crews and were able to help extinguish the fire inside the submarine. He also praised the crew from the USS Miami, which worked side-by-side with firefighters, both aboard the sub and around it.

“The crew provided outstanding support,” Mulhorn said. “They did an outstanding job.”

Mulhorn, who's served as a PNSY firefighter for the past 23 years, couldn't recall an emergency of this magnitude, especially aboard a submarine.

“Once in a lifetime is good enough for me,” Mulhorn said.

Navy officials stressed that the nuclear reactor, located in the aft of the ship, had been shut down for more than two months and was not affected by the fire, which occurred in the forward compartment spaces, including the crew's living area and command and control area.

The USS Miami is a Los Angeles-Class attack submarine assigned to the U.S. Atlantic fleet and has been in dry dock since March 1 for maintenance and upgrades.

PNSY firefighter Dave Funk of Farmington said fighting a fire on a sub is challenging when it is undergoing repairs in dry dock.

“The layout it still the same, but there may be additional equipment (in the way) or sections of flooring missing,” Funk said, adding firefighters must trust in their training and their teammates.

“There's a lot of potential for things to go wrong,” Funk said, adding it's a miracle that there were so few injuries, which were minor in nature.

“I feel bad for the sailors — it's their home; it's their job,” Funk said.

PNSY firefighter Kevin Spinney of Elliot, Maine, said a fire aboard a sub is vastly different than a house fire as the metal hull becomes “superheated” even after the flames are extinguished in a compartment.

“It's a whole different beast,” Spinney said, adding despite the metal components, submarines have a lot of flammable material — like insulation and other items — which fueled the fire.

Collins said the U.S. Navy dispatched three teams to determine what caused the fire. She added while the shipyard has the capacity to repair the damaged sub, the Navy will not decide to initiate the process until the investigation is complete.