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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.
The Discovery is a fireboat launched on the Columbia River in 2014. The Discovery is operated by the Vancouver Fire Department. The vessel can pump 3,000 US gal/min (11,000 L/min) for firefighting, and is the city's first dedicated fireboat.
The Vancouver Fire Department (VFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Vancouver and, by contract, Clark County Fire District 5, in Washington, United States. The VFD's response area is 91 square miles (240 km2) with a population of over 288,000 (2021). The VFD has the highest call volume per firefighter in the state. ALS transport is provided by AMR, making the VFD's service area population by far the largest in Western Washington without public ALS ambulance service.
Various seaside municipalities operate fireboats in Connecticut. Following the attacks on September 11, 2001 several municipalities received grants from the US Federal government to build fireboats, so they would be prepared for a maritime terrorist attack.
The Robert L. Bedell is a fireboat operated by the Norwalk Connecticut Fire Department. The vessel was supplied to the city via a Department of Homeland Security grant through the Port Security Grant Fund. She was ordered in 2009 and delivered in October 2012. It is named after a longtime member of the department who died in 2004.
The Nathan Hale is an emergency vessel operated by the city of New Haven, Connecticut. She serves both the New Haven Fire Department and the New Haven Police Department.
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 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.
Since 2002, the Department of Homeland Security has provided Port Security Grants to ports within the United States, to build fireboats. These vessels are thought to help keep the entire United States safer, because, in addition to fighting local fires, they are all equipped to help counter nuclear fallout, chemical weapons and biological weapons.
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.
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 Mary Firstenburg is a fireboat operated by Clark County Fire & Rescue. She was commissioned on March 16, 2014. She purchased through a FEMA Port Security Grant.
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.
Newport, Rhode Island acquired a new fireboat, named William H. Connerton, Jr. on April 23, 2018. Approximately seventy-five percent of the vessel's cost was covered by a FEMA Port Security Grant. $887,642.00 was paid for by FEMA, $267,500 was paid by the Newport Fire Department, but $200,000 of that was donated by Peter Kiernan III a local philanthropist.
The Philadelphia Fire Department started operating the fireboat Independence in 2007. The vessel cost $5 million, $4.5 million of which came from a FEMA Port Security Grant.
Marine 19 is a 32 feet (9.8 m) fireboat operated by the Duluth Fire Department. She was built by Lake Assault Boats for $597,000, with three quarters of her cost being paid by a FEMA Port Security grant. As is typical of fireboats built with the help of FEMA grants, she is a multirole vessel, capable of deploying measures to deal with toxic spills, or hostile attacks that require first responders to deploy in a vehicle with a sealed air supply. As with other FEMA fireboats she is equipped with modern sensors that work at night, in fog or smoke, features also useful when deployed on search and rescue.
The Duluth Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the City of Duluth, Minnesota.
References
- 1 2 Greg Smith (2014-09-21). "After Sept. 11, port security a regional priority". Washington Times . New London, Connecticut. Archived from the original on 2014-09-22. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
The money obtained through the grants has paid for equipment ranging from surveillance cameras and fences at State Pier in New London to patrol boats for police and fire departments, such as a $700,000 state-of-the-art firefighting boat at the Mystic Fire Department.
- ↑ Shirwell Bree (2012-07-27). "Mystic Fire Department Receives New Fireboat: The new fireboat replaces a smaller 40 plus year-old boat that the department acquired second hand". Groton Patch . Retrieved 2014-10-23.
The 32-foot boat replaces a smaller 40-plus-year-old boat that the department acquired second hand and used for more than 20 years. Funding for the fireboat came from the national Port Security Grant Program. Deputy Chief Tony Manfredi wrote the grant application.