Casey James Fury, 25, worked as a civilian painter at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, United States. On May 23, 2012, he experienced an anxiety attack and had no days off available. His solution was to set fire to a bag of rags inside the nuclear submarine USS Miami, thinking they would send him home.
The plan turned into a nightmare. The fire became an inferno that spewed superheated smoke through the hatches. More than 100 firefighters battled for 12 hours to save the vessel, and seven people were injured. The damage reached $450 million.
Three weeks later, while the submarine was still damaged, Fury started a second fire for the same reason. Prosecutors used that detail against him. To them, it proved that he did not consider the consequences or learn from the first disaster. The defense insisted that their client never wanted to hurt anyone, only to escape his own anxiety. A court sentenced him to 17 years in prison and ordered him to pay $400 million in restitution. The future of the USS Miami, meanwhile, remains undefined.
