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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.
Edward M. Cotter is a fireboat in use by the Buffalo Fire Department at Buffalo, New York, United States. Originally named William S. Grattan, it was built in 1900 by the Crescent Shipyard of Elizabeth Port, New Jersey. Due to age, it was rebuilt in 1953 and renamed Firefighter upon its return to service. The following year it was renamed Edward M. Cotter. its namesake, Edward Cotter, was a Buffalo firefighter and leader of the local firefighters union who had recently died.
Fire Fighter is a fireboat which served the New York City Fire Department from 1938 through 2010, serving with Marine Companies 1, 8 and 9 during her career. The most powerful diesel-electric fireboat in terms of pumping capacity when built in 1938, Fire Fighter fought more than 50 major fires during her career, including fires aboard the SS Normandie in 1942 and the SS El Estero in 1943, the 1973 collision of the Esso Brussels and SS Sea Witch, and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
CFAV Firebird was a Fire-class fireboat in the Royal Canadian Navy designed by Robert Allan Ltd. Firebird was based in CFB Halifax, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her sister ship CFAV Firebrand is based in CFB Esquimalt.
Three Forty Three is a Ranger 4200 class fireboat that serves the New York City Fire Department as Marine Company 1. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and built to replace the 1954 John D. McKean, it was commissioned at 0900 on September 11, 2010, exactly nine years after the 2001 terrorist attacks. It is one of four New York fireboats currently in active service.
Sea Witch was a MARAD Type C5-S-73b container ship built at the Bath Iron Works shipyard for American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines. She operated in the Atlantic trades for five years. So engaged on the evening of June 1, 1973, the vessel was involved in a disastrous collision with the oil tanker Esso Brussels in lower New York Harbor and was damaged so badly that she was removed from active service.
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 Mystic Connecticut fireboat Joseph B. Herman II was paid for with funds from the Port Security Grant Program, a special fund to combat terrorism. The fireboat cost $700,000. Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, the US Federal government began issuing generous grants to regional police, fire and other emergency handling agencies, to pay for infrastructure that could be used to combat a terrorist attack.
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.
Leschi, named for the native American leader Chief Leschi, is a fireboat operated by the Seattle Fire Department. The ship was laid down in 2006 and commissioned in 2007; its sponsor was Sharon Nickels, wife of the then-mayor Greg Nickels.
M/V Marine One is a fireboat operated by the Seattle Fire Department (SFD). Marine One was laid down in 2006 and commissioned the same year. It is one of three fireboats operated by the SFD, the others being M/V Leschi and M/V Chief Seattle. All of these vessels respond to salt and fresh water situations.
William M. Feehan is a fireboat built for and operated by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). Her namesake, William M. Feehan, was the oldest and most senior FDNY firefighter to perish in the line of duty on September 11, 2001. Her nameplate is carved from a steel plate salvaged from the collapse of the World Trade Center. The vessel's $4.7 million cost was largely covered by a FEMA Port Security Grant Program.
The Salish Star is a fireboat operated by the city of Bellingham, Washington. The vessel cost approximately $1 million. The Department of Homeland Security supplied three quarters of the cost through a FEMA Port Security Grant. The Port of Bellingham and the city of Bellingham provided the remainder.
North Kingstown, Rhode Island began operating a new 37 feet (11 m) fireboat named Marine 5 in 2013. The vessel was partially paid for by a FEMA Port Security Grant. The North Kingstown Fire Department is part of the Narragansett Bay Marine Task Force.
As a major port, there is a long history of fireboats in Singapore.
The Howard T. Tellepsen was a fireboat operated by the Houston Port Authority from 1983 to 2014. She and her sister ship, the J.S. Bracewell, replaced the Port authority's second fireboat, the Captain Crotty, which had been in service since 1950. They joined the Captain J.L. Farnsworth, which had been in service since 1973.
The Captain Crotty was Houston's second fireboat. When commissioned in 1950 she replaced the Port Houston. She was joined by Houston's third fireboat, the Captain J.L. Farnsworth in 1973. In 1983 she, in turn was retired, replaced by the J.S. Bracewell and Howard T. Tellepsen.
The Port Houston, commissioned in 1926, was the first fireboat to serve the Houston area. She was replaced by the Captain Crotty in 1950.
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.
The SCDF Marine Division is a division of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) that is in-charge of marine fire and rescue operations in Singapore waters. Its duties include the marine firefighting and maritime search and rescue operations in collaboration with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. It is headquartered at SCDF Marine Division HQ Brani Base on Pulau Brani.
References
- 1 2 "State-of-the-Art Emergency Response Vessel Headed Home". Port of Houston Authority . Houston. 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
In 1924, a fire in the hold of a steamship carrying cotton prompted the Houston Fire Commissioner to declare that the Port of Houston needed adequate firefighting apparatus to attack fires from water as well as land. A bond election to pay for the city's first fireboat passed with a wide margin. This election occurred just one day after a fire along the banks of the Houston Ship Channel spread to oil on the water and burned for more than two hours, with flames as high as 40 feet.
- ↑ "Houston Fireboat to Navigate From Lake Michigan to Texas". Firehouse magazine . 2014-05-16. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
A two-week voyage through four Great Lakes and the Mississippi River will bring to the Port of Houston Authority the third of three high-performance emergency response vessels.
- 1 2 3 Ken Hocke (2013-06-13). "MetalCraft delivers first of three new fireboats to the Port of Houston". Workboat magazine . Retrieved 2019-08-30.
Main propulsion comes from four Caterpillar C18 diesels, producing 1,150 hp at 2,300 rpm each. The Cats connect to four Hamilton Jet 403 waterjets through ZF Marine 665 marine gears. The cruising speed is 35 knots, and top speed is 45 knots.
- 1 2 3 "Port Welcomes New Fireboats". Bay Area Houston magazine . 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
With a price tag of just under $5 million each, the three new fireboats recently purchased by the Port of Houston Fire Department represent the state-of-the-art in firefighting equipment.