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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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
The Curtis Randolph is a fireboat operated by the Detroit Fire Department. The 74.58-foot (22.73 m) vessel was launched in 1979, and is named after a young firefighter who died in the line of duty in 1977. Mayor Coleman A. Young commissioned the vessel.
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.
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.
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 Harry Newell is a highspeed fireboat operated out of Ketchikan, Alaska, since August, 1986. She is built of aluminum, is 45 feet (14 m) long, is propelled by a pair of 410 brake horsepower (310 kW) diesel engines, at up to 30 knots (56 km/h). Her pumps can throw 5,000 gallons per minute through four water cannons.
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.
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.
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.
References
- 1 2 Nancy Guenther Chapman (2012-10-24). "New Norwalk Fire Boat Increases Homeland Security". Norwalk Daily Voice. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
It was ordered in 2009 and fully paid for by a Port Security Grant through the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency, Norwalk Fire Department Lt. Steve Popadoulos said. It was shipped from Oregon and delivered to Cove Marina two weeks ago.
- ↑ "Meet Norwalk's New Fire Boat !". Norwalk Cove. 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
The aluminum boat, which was constructed by the Almar division of North River Boats in Roseburg Oregon, was delivered to Norwalk Cove Marina yesterday. North River personnel were familiarizing Norwalk Fire staff on the complex systems today before handing over the boat.
- 1 2 Harold F. Cobin (2012-11-26). "City Christens New Fireboat [Video]: The 38-foot-long Robert L. Bedell was built in Oregon". Norwalk Patch. Archived from the original on 2014-10-24.
Besides the ability to fight fires, the Bedell is outfitted with sensors that can detect chemicals or radiation. The grant from FEMA requires that it participate in homeland security operations on Long Island Sound.
- ↑ "Pumped up: Fire boat deployed for firefighting drill". Westport News. 2014-07-29. Archived from the original on 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
The fire boat, which has a pumping capacity of 2,300 gallons of water per minute, "had no problem" supplying a water deed to the pumper, which can pump 1,500 gallons per minute, fire officials reported in a statement.
- ↑ Britton W. Crosby (2014-07-22). "Connecticut boats". CapeCodFD . Retrieved 2014-10-24.