Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.
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 Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) provides firefighting, hazardous materials response services, technical rescue services and emergency medical response services to the City and County of San Francisco, California.
John D. McKean is a fireboat that served the New York City Fire Department as Marine Company 1. She is named after John D. Mckean, who died in a 1953 steam explosion while trying to save a predecessor fireboat, the George B. McClellan.
David Scannell may refer to:
The Auxiliary Water Supply System is a high pressure water supply network built for the city of San Francisco in response to the failure of the existing emergency water system during the 1906 earthquake. It was originally proposed by San Francisco Fire Department chief engineer Dennis T. Sullivan in 1903, with construction beginning in 1909 and finishing in 1913. The system is made up of a collection of water reservoirs, pump stations, cisterns, suction connections and fireboats. While the system can use both fresh or salt water, it is preferential to not use salt water, as it commonly causes galvanic corrosion in fire equipment.
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.
Guardian is a fireboat that was owned by San Francisco Fire Department from 1990 until December, 2022. She operated in the San Francisco Bay since 1990 in reserve status. Guardian was a gift to the people of San Francisco by anonymous donors following the notable role of the fireboat Phoenix in helping to save the Marina District buildings from further destruction by fire following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Both Guardian Fireboat No. 2 and Phoenix Fireboat No. 1 have been based at Firehouse No. 35 at Pier 22½ of the Port of San Francisco. Guardian was officially retired by the City of San Francisco in 2022 and was purchased at auction by a small group of individuals who are passionate about keeping this vessel alive and well in San Francisco Bay. She is anticipated to be ready for charters and events once proper restoration and refitting to safely transport passengers is complete. Guardian is also being prepared for use as an on-water fireboat training facility for the West Coast.
The city of Vancouver, British Columbia, has operated fireboats since 1928, when the city introduced the J.H. Carlisle.
As a major port a number of fireboats of San Francisco have been operated by the city of San Francisco since 1878.
David S. Scannell was an American firefighter, law enforcement official, and veteran of the Mexican–American War.
Dennis T. Sullivan was the Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department in 1906. He was mortally wounded during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when a neighboring building collapsed onto the fire station that housed the Chief's official apartment.
The John Kendall was a steam-powered fireboat launched in 1929 by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company and operated by the Detroit Fire Department from 1930 to 1976. During her service as a fireboat she continued to be propelled by steam engines, requiring a crew of ten, five of whom were required to stoke her boiler. She was converted to a tugboat, and her steam engines were finally replaced by diesel engines. She served an additional 20 years as a tug, out of Alpena, Michigan. She was scrapped in 1994.
The Deanna Jo is a small fireboat operated by the Alameda Fire Department. The city was able to acquire the vessel with the help of matching grants from the United States Department of Homeland Security, which required the city to only pay one quarter of the vessels capital cost. The Department has been providing Port Security grants since 2002, to provide vessels that, in addition to fighting fires, and rescuing boaters and swimmers, are equipped to counter biological and chemical weapons.
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.
During the early 20th century, large and powerful fireboats were operated in Duluth, Minnesota. In 1920 both the Duluth, Mesaba & Northern Railway Company and the Duluth & Iron Range Railway Company operated fireboats in Duluth, the William A. McGonacle and the Halle.
California's major ports have long traditions of maintaining dedicated fireboats, and, soon after Al Qaeda's attack on September 1st, 2001, FEMA started issuing port security grants equipping fireboats for California's smaller ports, that are also equipped to work when hazardous materials have been released.
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 Governor Irwin was a fireboat operated in San Francisco, California from 1878 to 1909. She was steam powered. She participated in the recovery after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. She was owned by the State of California, she could only pump a modest 1000 gallons per minute.
The Louis Behrens, also known as Marine 101 is a fireboat commissioned by Charleston, South Carolina, in 2012.
