NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) — A massive fire broke out Tuesday morning on a barge carrying huge piles of scrap metal on the Delaware Bay and was still burning by the evening.
The U.S. Coast Guard responded after 8 a.m. to reports of the fire and dispatched a helicopter and two boats, Petty Officer First Class Matthew West said. Local fire departments, including those from Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, also responded. A tugboat was moving the unmanned barge at the time of the fire, West said, adding there were no injuries. The Delaware Bay is an estuary of the Delaware River between Delaware and New Jersey.
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Firefighters battle a massive blaze that erupted on a barge on the Delaware River on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in New Castle, Del. (WPVI via AP)
Smoke fills the sky as firefighters battle a massive blaze that erupted on a barge on the Delaware River on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in New Castle, Del. (WPVI via AP)
Smoke fills the sky as firefighters battle a massive blaze that erupted on a barge on the Delaware River on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in New Castle, Del. (WPVI via AP)
Smoke fills the sky as firefighters battle a massive blaze that erupted on a barge on the Delaware River on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in New Castle, Del. (WPVI via AP)
The Coast Guard said the barge was being towed about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) off Maurice River Cove in New Jersey, in order to remove the threat from the main ship channel.
Ship traffic also was not impacted by the fire that was still burning several hours later, he said. The barge appeared to be standing still as boats on both sides of it fired water cannons into the piles of burning metal. Smoke billowed from several fires aboard the boat for most of the day.
West said the cause of the fire remained under investigation.
In a statement, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency said the barge was being moved to shallower water and that the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control was monitoring air quality. But the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control later said it was not doing any air monitoring.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection also said it was working closely with the Coast Guard and the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management in responding to the fire. It said that it was monitoring “for potential impacts to air quality as well as water quality and ecological resources of the Delaware Bay.” It had no further details.
This story corrects that the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, not the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, put out a statement on the barge fire. It also corrects that the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control was conducting air monitoring. It is not.
Firefighters battle a massive blaze that erupted on a barge on the Delaware River on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in New Castle, Del. (WPVI via AP)
Smoke fills the sky as firefighters battle a massive blaze that erupted on a barge on the Delaware River on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in New Castle, Del. (WPVI via AP)
Smoke fills the sky as firefighters battle a massive blaze that erupted on a barge on the Delaware River on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in New Castle, Del. (WPVI via AP)
Smoke fills the sky as firefighters battle a massive blaze that erupted on a barge on the Delaware River on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in New Castle, Del. (WPVI via AP)
ROME, Ga. (AP) — Democrat Shawn Harris and Republican Clay Fuller advanced to a runoff for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former U.S. House seat in Georgia after no candidate won a majority in Tuesday’s special election.
President Donald Trump in February endorsed Fuller, a district attorney who prosecutes crimes in four counties, to succeed Greene in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Greene, once among Trump's most ardent supporters, resigned in January after a falling out with the president.
Trump's endorsement didn't boost Fuller to a majority of the vote in a 14-candidate field that included nine Republicans, three Democrats, a Libertarian and an independent. But Fuller said he was confident he could bring Republicans together to beat Harris on April 7.
“I think the Republican Party is going to unite around us because they know that the Democrat is too dangerous,” he said Tuesday night. “We can't have a Democrat representing Georgia 14. That would be a tragedy for our community, a tragedy for Georgia 14 and a tragedy for the MAGA movement.”
Harris, a cattle farmer and retired brigadier general, will face an uphill battle to win a majority in the heavily Republican district. Nevertheless, he was leading in the hours after the polls closed and Democrats are likely to boast of his success as they have focused on strong performances in special elections.
Harris has contrasted himself with Greene’s bomb-throwing style, saying practical-minded Republicans should vote for him because he will work for constituents “not for somebody else who's already in D.C.”
“The way I’m going to go to Congress is that it’s going to be a coalition of Democrats, independents and Republicans,” Harris said Tuesday night.
The winner will serve out the remaining months of Greene’s term. A Republican win in the northwest Georgia district would bolster the party’s slim majority in the House, where Republicans currently control 218 seats to Democrats’ 214.
Fuller was a White House fellow in the first Trump administration and is a lieutenant colonel in the Georgia Air National Guard. He finished fourth in the 2020 Republican primary that Greene won. He credited Trump's nod for propelling him to the runoff.
“They want to know who President Trump was endorsing in this race,” Fuller said. “And that's why they came out in droves to support him, because they want an America First fighter on Capitol Hill fighting for his policies that are going to make a difference for our community.”
Harris said he’s not worried about further Trump intervention.
“If Donald Trump wants to come and do what he wants to do, that’s his business," he said.
This round of voting is only the first step in an elections marathon in the Georgia district. Republicans and Democrats seeking a full two-year term are set for a May 19 party primary, and possibly a June 16 party runoff, before advancing to the general election in November.
Last week, 10 Republicans and Harris qualified to run in November for a full two-year term. That includes Fuller, as well as Colton Moore, a former state senator and favorite of far-right activists who was poised to finish third on Tuesday, short of the runoff.
For Fuller voters like Presley Stover, support for Trump hasn't wavered.
“I think as of right now, he’s doing a great job," said Stover, who lives in Dallas, Georgia. “He’s definitely helping us a lot more than Biden did. I mean, as of now, they’re not the best, but you’re not gonna change anything overnight.”
Those who backed Democrats said they were repelled by Trump and eager to reduce his power.
“There just needs to be checks and balances and I don't think we have many of those right now," said Matthew Wisniewski, a Dallas resident who voted for Harris.
Greene was one of the most well-known members of Congress until she left in January. She remained loyal to Trump after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, promoting Trump’s falsehoods about a stolen election. When Trump ran again in 2024, she toured the country with him and spoke at his rallies while wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat.
But Greene began clashing with Trump last year after he and other Republicans pushed back against her running for U.S. Senate or governor. Greene criticized Trump’s foreign policy and his reluctance to release documents involving the Jeffrey Epstein case. The president eventually had enough, saying he would support a primary challenge against her. Greene announced a week later that she would resign.
Associated Press journalist Emilie Megnien contributed to this report.
Democrat Shawn Harris, center, speaks during an Atlanta Press Club forum for candidates in Georgia's 14th Congressional District, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, at Georgia Public Broadcasting, in Atlanta. (J. Glenn Photography/Press Club via AP)
FILE - Republican Colton Moore, who resigned from the state Senate to run for Congress, poses for a photo outside the Georgia Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)
