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 Long Range Interceptor (LRI) is an 11-meter high speed launch vessel designed to be deployed from United States Coast Guard cutters via a rear launching ramp. The Long Range Interceptor is an aluminum boat, powered by Ultrajet brand water-jets, for intercepting and boarding suspect vessels. It mounts a radar, special shock-proof seats, and can travel at 35 knots (65 km/h). They can be armed with machine guns or grenade launchers, and can be equipped with ballistic panels for crew protection when required.
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.
William Lyon Mackenzie, is a fireboat operated by Toronto Fire Services (TFS) which provides marine fire fighting and icebreaking capabilities within the Toronto Harbour. Built by Russel Brothers in 1964, it is named after William Lyon Mackenzie, the first mayor of Toronto. In 2004 the fireboat was refurbished and it is expected to be in service until 2037.
USCGC Tallapoosa (WPG-52) was a United States Coast Guard cutter of the Tallapoosa-class and was designed to replace the revenue cutter Winona. Her hull was reinforced for light icebreaking. She was initially stationed at Mobile, Alabama, with cruising grounds to Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana and Fowey Rocks, Florida. During World War I she escorted convoys out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. After the war she served with the Bering Sea Patrol before returning to Savannah, Georgia before World War II. During the war Tallapoosa assisted with convoy escort duty and anti-submarine patrols.
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.
Jacksonville, Florida has operated Fireboats, including a fleet of three fireboats from 1999 to 2001, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). While other cities require the master, at most, to be US Coast Guard certified, Jacksonville requires all crew members to be certified capable of serving as the master of a vessel of up to 100 tons.
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.
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.
USCGC William Trump (WPC-1111) is a Sentinel-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. When she was delivered to the Coast Guard, on November 25, 2014, she was the eleventh vessel of her class, and the fifth vessel based in the Coast Guard's station in Key West, Florida.
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.
The Portland Fire Bureau of the city of Portland, Oregon owns and operates Fireboats in Portland, Oregon.
The City of Houston and the Houston Port Authority have operated seven fireboats in Houston. The Port authority currently manages three fireboats in Houston.
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.
