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Fireboat

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A Canadian Fireboat

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. The most technologically advanced of these 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.

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.

List of modern fire boats

Asia

Hong Kong

  • Fireboat 1 (Elite)
  • Fireboat 2
  • Fireboat 3
  • Fireboat 4
  • Fireboat 5
  • Fireboat 6 (Excellence)
  • Fireboat 7
  • Fireboat 8
  • Command Boat (CB1 and CB2)
  • Diving Support Vessel (D1)
  • Diving Support Speed Boat (DV2 and DV3)
  • Speed Boat (SB1-6)
  • Sir Alexander Grantham - retired

Europe

Amsterdam, Netherlands

  • Jan van der Heide

Zaandam, Netherlands

  • Blusboot De Weer

Rotterdam, Netherlands

  • RPA 2
  • RPA 10
  • RPA 11
  • RPA 12
  • RPA 13
  • RPA 14
  • RPA 15
  • RPA 16

Oslo, Norway

  • Erling Hagen #72

North America

Victoria, British Columbia

  • Rocket

Langford, British Columbia

  • #714

Toronto, Ontario

Perth Amboy, New Jersey

  • Fire Marine 5

Bayport, New York

Buffalo, New York

New York, New York

  • Firefighter
  • Governor Alfred E. Smith
  • John D. McKean
  • Kevin C. Kane
  • John J. Harvey

Los Angeles, California

San Francisco, California

  • Phoenix
  • Guardian

Seattle, Washington

  • Chief Seattle
  • Leschi

Portland, Oregon

  • David Campbell

Historic Fireboats

Pyronaut and steam tug Mayflower, outside the Bristol Harbour Railway and Industrial Museum

References

  1. 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.

See also

External links

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