The Challenger is a fireboat built for the Long Beach California Fire Department. She and her sister ship the Liberty were commissioned in 1987. They replaced two older vessels. [1] Within a year both vessels developed serious corrosion problems, due to poor choice of alloys, and the joints between different metals.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the vice president of Moss Point Marine, Vince Almerico, said "If the port wanted entirely rust-free vessels it could have specified use of stainless steel for everything at a much higher cost." [1]
The vessels were 88 feet long, and their five water cannons were capable of pumping water or foam at 10,000 gallons per minute. [1]
The two vessels cost $2.2 million each, in 1987 dollars, and, by September 1988 the Long Beach Harbor Commission had to allocate an addition $883,000 to repair the construction problems. [1] [2]
The Challenger and the Liberty were delivered in a red livery with black trim, while the two older fireboats they replaced were grey. [1] The maintenance problems had such a serious effect on crew morale that the Los Angeles Times reported crew members had put up a sign, saying, the city should sell the red ones and keep the grey ones.
The Challenger and the Liberty are scheduled to be replaced by more modern fireboats in 2014. [3]
Duwamish is a retired fireboat in the United States. She is the second oldest vessel designed to fight fires in the US, after Edward M. Cotter, in Buffalo, New York.
A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipment. Older designs derived from tugboats and modern fireboats more closely resembling seafaring ships can both be found in service today. Some departments would give their multi-purpose craft the title of "fireboat" also.
The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) is a permanently closed nuclear power plant located south of San Clemente, California, on the Pacific coast, in Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV. The plant was shut down in 2013 after defects were found in replacement steam generators; it is currently in the process of decommissioning. The 2.2 GW of electricity supply lost when the plant shut down was replaced with 1.8 GW of new natural-gas fired power plants and 250 MW of energy storage projects.
The Port of Long Beach, administered as the Harbor Department of the City of Long Beach, is a container port in the United States, which adjoins Port of Los Angeles. Acting as a major gateway for US–Asian trade, the port occupies 3,200 acres (13 km2) of land with 25 miles (40 km) of waterfront in the city of Long Beach, California. The Port of Long Beach is located less than two miles (3 km) southwest of Downtown Long Beach and approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Downtown Los Angeles. The seaport generates approximately US$100 billion per year in trade and employs more than 316,000 people in Southern California. In 2022, the port, together with the adjoining Port of Los Angeles, were considered amongst the world's least efficient ports by the World Bank and IHS Markit citing union protectionism and a lack of automation.
The Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Power Plant is a former commercial nuclear power station located near the town of Platteville in northern Colorado in the United States. It originally operated from 1979 until 1989. It had a 330 MWe High-temperature gas reactor (HTGR). The plant was decommissioned between 1989 and 1992.
The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located on the campus of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. The museum's collection comprises more than 4,500 objects, with a concentration on the art of California and the Pacific Rim from the early 20th century to present. Exhibits include traditional paintings, sculptures, and photography, as well as new media in the form of video, digital, and installation art.
USS Independence (LCS-2) is the lead ship of the Independence-class of littoral combat ships. She is the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the concept of independence. The design was produced by the General Dynamics consortium for the Navy's LCS program, and competes with the Lockheed Martin designed Freedom variant.
Port Disney was a planned Walt Disney resort spanning 443 acres (179 ha) surrounding Queensway Bay next to the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, United States. The property was going to feature a marine-themed amusement park, a marina, a cruise ship port, a specialty retail and entertainment area, and hotel accommodations. The land it would occupy housed the RMS Queen Mary and the Hughes H-4 Hercules aircraft, both of which were obtained by Disney in its acquisition of the Wrather company in 1989.
Ralph J. Scott, also formerly known as Fireboat #2, is a 100-foot (30 m) fireboat that was attached to the Los Angeles Fire Department serving the Port of Los Angeles. She was retired in 2003 after 78 years and replaced by Warner L. Lawrence. Ralph J. Scott is undergoing restoration near the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro. On 30 June 1989, she was listed as a National Historic Landmark. She is currently located at the Los Angeles Fire Department, Fire Station 112, at 444 South Harbor Blvd, Berth 86, San Pedro, California.
The Alki is a fireboat noted for its long service in Seattle, Washington. The boat was built in 1927 and is 123 feet (37 m) long. She was Seattle's third fireboat. She was built with gasoline engines, which were replaced with diesels in 1947. The new engine retrofit allowed the Alki to increase its pumping capacity from 12,000 gallons per minute to 16,200 gallons per minute. She replaced the Snoqualmie, Seattle's first fireboat.
The John H. Glenn Jr. is a fireboat stationed on the Potomac and Anacostia rivers in Washington, D.C. Her bow was reinforced in 1984, allowing her to also serve as an icebreaker during the winter.
Phoenix is a fireboat owned by State of California and operated by the city of San Francisco in the San Francisco Bay since 1955. Phoenix is known for helping to save Marina District buildings from further destruction by fire following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Her worthy assistance resulted in a second vintage fireboat obtained for the city. Both Guardian and Phoenix are based at Firehouse No. 35 at Pier 22½ of the Port of San Francisco. Phoenix often leads parades of ships, and takes part in welcoming ceremonies.
The City of Long Beach, California started to operate a new fireboat, now known as the Protector, in May 2014. The vessel was known as Fireboat 20, until she was officially commissioned, on June 8, 2016. A sister ship will follow within a year. The two new vessels will replace the Challenger and the Liberty, commissioned in 1987. The earlier vessels had a troubled maintenance record. She will be one of the most powerful fireboats in the world.
The Long Beach Fire Department of the city of Long Beach, California owns and operates Fireboats in Long Beach, providing fire protection and rescue services for the Port of Long Beach and the marina and beach areas of the city of Long Beach Although administered separately, the port facilities of Los Angeles and Long Beach are adjacent, and together, form one of the largest container ports in the world. The cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach have a mutual aid arrangement where one will loan fireboats to the other in case of need.
Fireboats in San Diego have been operated on San Diego Bay by the city of San Diego, California since the early 20th century, as well as by the Port of San Diego since its creation as a quasi-governmental agency serving the entire Bay in 1962.
The Abram S. Hewitt was a coal-powered fireboat operated by the Fire Department of New York City from 1903 to 1958. She was the department's last coal-powered vessel and had a pumping capacity of 7,000 gallons per minute.
The Fireboat Tiburon is a modern 35 feet (11 m) fireboat acquired by Tiburon, California's fire department in 2006. Two thirds of the vessel's cost was paid through a Port security grant from FEMA, a sub-agency of the Department of Homeland Security. She replaced a used vessel acquired from the Los Angeles Fire Department in 2003.
St. Francis is a fireboat operated by the San Francisco Fire Department on San Francisco Bay since 2016. Also known as Fireboat 3, she was given the official name on October 17, 2016, the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Local schoolchildren helped pick the vessel's name.
The City of Houston and the Houston Port Authority have operated seven fireboats in Houston. The Port authority currently manages three fireboats in Houston.
Vigilance is a fireboat operated by Long Beach, California. It is the second of two large fireboats Long Beach commissioned and the largest on North America's West Coast.
After spending $4.4 million for two state-of-the-art fireboats, the Port of Long Beach is struggling to keep the vessels from becoming floating rust buckets.
The commission is paying $653,000, the largest chunk of the funds, to a Terminal Island boatyard to correct design and construction deficiencies and to fix corrosion damage on the twin $2.2-million Challenger and Liberty, which were delivered to the city within the past two years.
Fireboat 20 and its sister are replacements for two older fireboats, the Liberty and Challenger.