Sophie Masloff is a fireboat in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On December 16, 2016, Pittsburgh officials announced that half a million dollars had been budgeted to acquire a fireboat that was eventually named in honor of Pittsburgh's first female mayor. [1] [2] [3] The new vessel, the city's first fireboat since 1973, [4] was built by Lake Assault Boats, a Wisconsin firm for $542,750. [5] [6]
Two fires, a boat fire in 2015, and fire on a bridge undergoing maintenance, in 2016, convinced officials of the need for a fireboat. [3] [7] [8] In May 2016 local media reported that the new vessel had been provisionally budgeted at $400,000, but one year in, operational costs raised concern. [9] [10] In 1973 the city sold its previous fireboat, named after former mayor Cornelius D. Scully, to Tampa, Florida, for $50,000. [11] [12]
The vessel was to be equipped with "sonar, forward-looking infrared cameras, and a state-of-the-art electronic suite". She will be 30 feet (9.1 m) long and able to pump a modest 3,000 gallons per minute and would be staffed by the crew of one of the city's regular fire-trucks, not by its own full-time crew. [11] The vessel was delivered in August 2017. [3]
Pittsburgh retired its last fireboat — christened the C.D. Scully in honor of former Mayor Cornelius D. Scully — and sold it in 1973 to Tampa for $50,000.