Edward M. Cotter (fire boat)
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Edward M. Cotter is a fire boat in use by the Buffalo Fire Department. Built in 1900 as William S. Grattan in Elizabeth, New Jersey, she was rebuilt as the current name at the Buffalo Dry Dock in Buffalo, New York in 1958.
During the winter the Edward M. Cotter breaks the ice on Buffalo's rivers.
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[edit] History
Her steam engines were replaced by diesels in 1953, and she was renamed, "firefighter". In 1958 she was renamed again, in honor of Edward M. Cotter, a respected Buffalo firefighter who had recently passed away.
On October 7, 1960 the Cotter came to the aid of firefighting authorities in Port Colborne Ontario.[1] Port Colborne had no fireboat of its own, and when a set of its grain elevators caught fire on October 5, 1960 authorities were unable to bring the fire under control. Escorted by a United States Coast Guard cutter, because she had never needed navigational equipment of her own, the Edward M. Cotter proceeded across the international border. The voyage to Port Colborne took two hours. And it took the Edward M. Cotter a further four hours to bring the fire under control. This mission is said to have been the first instance a US fire boat had crossed an international border to help authorities in another country.
[edit] National Historic site
In 1996 the Edward M. Cotter was designated a National Historic landmark.[2]
At 107 years of age, the "Edward M. Cotter" is the oldest active fireboat in the world.
The Cotter can often be seen sailing out of berth and south-west to Lake Erie, returning north through the breakwall and firing her watercannons.
[edit] References
- ^ 1960 - account of the Port Colborne fire.
- ^ NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION
