Fireboat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused with Fire ship.

This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

A Canadian Fireboat

German fireboat Kiel

Fireboat in Berlin/Germany

A fireboat is a specialized watercraft, often resembling a tugboat, with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires.

They are frequently used for fighting fires on docks and shore side warehouses as they can directly attack fires in the supporting underpinnings of these structures. They also have an unlimited supply of water available, pumping directly from below the hull and can be used to assist shore based firefighters when other water is in low supply or is unavailable, for example, due to earthquake breakage of water mains, as happened in San Francisco due to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Modern fireboats are capable of pumping tens of thousands of gallons of water per minute. An example is Fire Boat #2 of the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Warner Lawrence, with the capability to pump up to 38,000 US gallons per minute (2 m³/s) and up to 400 feet (120 m) in the air.

Fireboats are most usually seen by the public when welcoming a fleet or historical ships with a display of their water moving capabilities, throwing large arcs of water in every direction.

Fireboat demonstrating its capabilities

Occasionally fireboats are used to carry firefighters, Emergency Medical Technicians, and a physician with their equipment to islands and other boats. Also hydrocopters, rigid-hulled inflatable boats, and even hovercrafts and helicopters are used in fire, rescue and medical emergency situations. They may also carry divers or surface water rescue workers. Passengers from ships in danger can be also transferred to various kind of rescue boats. Rescue boats may be used also for oil and chemical destruction on rivers, lakes and seas^[1].

[edit] List of famous fire boats

San Francisco Fireboat

Sir Alexander Grantham - Hong Kong (retired)
William Lyon Mackenzie, Toronto, Canada
Edward M. Cotter, Buffalo, United States
John J. Harvey, New York City, United States
Warner Lawrence, Los Angeles, United States
Ralph J. Scott, Los Angeles, United States
Duwamish, Seattle, United States
Tacoma Fireboat #1, Tacoma, United States
Pyronaut, moored at Bristol Harbour Railway and Industrial Museum
Massey Shaw, London, England.
"Deluge", Fire Fighting Tug, Port New Orleans (retired)
"Deluge" Retired Fire Fighting Tug
William O. Bird II., Sandusky Fire Department, Sandusky, Ohio

[edit] References

^ For example, the Helsinki Rescue Department in Helsinki, Finland has various kinds of boats for various kind of firefighting, rescue, and oil destruction tasks. http://www.hel.fi/pel.