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The ''Christopher Wheatley'' is a
The ''Christopher Wheatley'' is a fireboat
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 equipm ...
delivered to the Chicago Fire Department
The Chicago Fire Department (CFD) provides fire suppression, rescue services, Hazardous Materials Response services and emergency medical response services to the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Ch ...
in 2011.
When she was delivered in April 2011, she was the first new fireboat to serve the city in sixty years.
She replaced the '' Victor L. Schlaeger''.
The vessel was built in Wheatley, Ontario
Wheatley is a community in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, within the municipality of Chatham-Kent. It lies about east of Leamington. Nearby parks include Two Creeks Conservation Area, which has 15 km of hiking and bicycling paths, Kopegaron ...
, and was named after a young Chicago firefighter who had died in the line of duty in August 2010.
The vessel was designed specifically to function in an environment like Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, where she would be required to navigate shallow rivers, and pass under low bridges.
She has four diesel engines, two of which are dedicated to powering her four water cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining. ...
s. A water cannon on her aft deck is on an extensible mast that can be raised to a height of 30 feet, if required, but can be lowered to pass under low bridges. Her radio mast can also be lowered, for passing under low bridges. Her water cannons can project 15,000 gallons per minute.
The Fire Department maintains crew on the vessel 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The vessel was designed by Canadian Naval Architects Robert Allan Ltd.
Robert Allan Ltd. is Canada's oldest privately owned Consulting firm, consulting Naval architecture, Naval Architectural firm, established in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1930. Their experience includes designs for vessels of almost all types ...
and built in the Canadian shipyards of Hike Metal Products.
Chicago keeps the lower reaches of the Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...
clear of ice, during the winter, so service vessels, like the ''Christopher Wheatley'' can transit it, during emergencies. While she is capable of breaking ice usually the city-owned tugboat '' James J. Versluis'' performs this duty. In 2021, the ''Christopher Wheatley'' was put into use breaking ice on the Chicago River, while the ''James J. Versluis'' was in charge of breaking ice on Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that ...
.
See also
*Fireboats of Chicago
As an important port city, Chicago has operated dedicated fireboats since 1877.
In 1986, the ''Chicago Tribune'' offered a history of Chicago's larger fireboats, when the Chicago Fire Department
The Chicago Fire Department (CFD) provides fir ...
References
{{commons category, Christopher Wheatley (ship, 2011) Fireboats of Chicago