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 A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such ...

, retrofitted with firefighting equipment. Older designs derived from tugboats and modern fireboats more closely resembling seafaring ships can both be found in service today. Some departments would give their multi-purpose craft the title of "fireboat" also. They are frequently used for fighting fires on

docks The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engli ...

and shore side

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

s as they can directly attack fires in the supporting underpinnings of these structures. They also have an effectively unlimited supply of water available, pumping directly from below the hull. Fireboats 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 On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz Cou ...

. Some 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 Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides firefighting services and technical rescue services, hazardous materials services, and emergency medical services to the residents of the city of Los Angeles, California, United ...

, the ''

Warner Lawrence ''Warner Lawrence'' is a fireboat owned and operated by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in Los Angeles. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. in the early 2000s, ''Warner Lawrence'' was built in Washington and delivered to San Pedro on 21 May 20 ...

'', with the capability to pump up to and up to 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 Technician An emergency medical technician (often, more simply, EMT) is a medical professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found serving on ambulances and in fire departments in the US and Canada, as full-time and som ...

s, and a physician with their equipment to islands and other boats. Some may be used as

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

s, like the

Chicago Fire Department The Chicago Fire Department (CFD) provides firefighting services along with emergency medical response services, hazardous materials mitigation services, and technical rescue response services in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, un ...

's '' Victor L. Schlaeger'' which can break 8 to 12 inch ice. 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. For example, the Helsinki Rescue Department in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland has different types of boats for various kind of firefighting, rescue, and oil destruction tasks. Also

hydrocopter A hydrocopter is an amphibious propeller-driven catamaran with a boat-like hull, small wheels and pontoon skis (as in a seaplane). An aircraft engine with a propeller and air rudder powers the vehicle over water, ice, snow and land. Hydrocopte ...

rigid-hulled inflatable boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull (watercraft), hull bottom joined to side-forming a ...

fanboat An airboat (also known as a planeboat, swamp boat, bayou boat, or fanboat) is a flat-bottomed watercraft propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine. It is commonly used for fishing, hunting, r ...

s and even

hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...

and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s are used in fire, rescue and medical emergency situations. Cities with fireboats are usually located on a large body of water with port facilities. Smaller fire departments lacking resources will use a

or borrow boats from local rescue agencies (EMS, Coast Guard, military).

History

The first recorded fire-float was built in 1765 for the Sun Fire Insurance Company in London. This was a

manual pump Hand pumps are manually operated pumps; they use human power and mechanical advantage to move fluids or air from one place to another. They are widely used in every country in the world for a variety of industrial, marine, irrigation and leis ...

in a small boat, rowed by its crew to the scene of the fire. A similar craft was built in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

by James Hillhouse for the Imperial Fire Insurance Office in the 1780s. All fire fighting in Bristol was carried out either by private insurance companies or the Docks Company until the formation of the Bristol Fire Brigade as a branch of the police in 1876. In New York City, a small boat with a hand-pump was used to fight marine fires as early as 1809. By the middle of the nineteenth century, self-propelled steam-fire-floats were beginning to be introduced. The FDNY leased the

salvage tug A salvage tug, also known historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...

John Fuller as the city's first powered fireboat in 1866. Prior to the "John Fuller", as early as the late 1700s, the FDNY used hand-pumpers mounted to barges and large rowboats. The first purpose built steam driven boats were introduced by

Boston Fire Department The Boston Fire Department provides fire services and first responder emergency medical services to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It also responds to such incidents as motor vehicle accidents, dangerous goods, hazardous material spills, util ...

(''William F. Flanders'') and FDNY (''William F. Havenmeyer'') in 1873 and 1875 respectively. The first European fireboat to appear in Bristol was the ''Fire Queen'', built by Shand Mason & Co., London, in 1884 for service in the city docks. The 53 ft. (16.61 m.) long craft was equipped with a three-

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

steam pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...

supplying two large hose reels; one of these was replaced with a monitor, or

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. ...

, in 1900. ''Fire Queen'' served until 1922.

List of famous fireboats

* Abram S. Hewitt –

FDNY The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for providing Fire Suppression Services, ...

(

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) (1903–1958) (retired and abandon at Witte Marine Scrapyard in

Rossville, Staten Island Rossville is a neighborhood of Staten Island, New York (state), New York, on the island's South Shore, Staten Island, South Shore. It is located to the north of Woodrow, Staten Island, Woodrow, to the west of Arden Heights, Staten Island, Arden He ...

). *

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the biblical book of Genesis. Deluge or Le Déluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...

– Fireboat/Tug (New Orleans) (retired) *

Duwamish Duwamish may refer to: People * Duwamish people, a Lushootseed-speaking Indigenous people in Washington state * Duwamish Tribe, an unrecognized tribe of Duwamish descendants Places * Duwamish Head, a promontory jutting into Elliott Bay * Duw ...

– (Seattle) 1909 (retired) * Edward M. Cotter – Fireboat/

Icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

(

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

) (active) The oldest active fireboat. * Tacoma Fireboat No. 1 – (

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

) (retired) * Fireboat 85 - Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (California). Located in 8th Battalion,

Pittsburg Marina Pittsburg Marina is a marina situated at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers in Pittsburg, California. It is located within walking distance from Old Town Pittsburg. The Marina is owned and operated by the City of Pittsburg, an ...

. *

Fire Fighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

– (NYC) 1938 *

Fire Fighter II ''Fire Fighter II'' is a Robert Allan Ltd. Ranger 4200 class fireboat put in service with Marine Company 9 of the New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) ...

–

(

) (2010) the United States' largest fireboat (Active) * Governor Irwin – Fireboat/Tug (

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

) (1878–1909) Fireboat participated in

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

and fire. (retired and scrapped) * Governor Markham – Fireboat/Tug (

) Fireboat participated in

and fire. (retired and scrapped) * – US Navy – Fireboat/Tug (

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

attack) and City of

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

1940–1996 (retired and under museum ship restoration) * John Fuller – steam salvage tug (NYC) – 1866 boat had 2000GPM pump and hose. Considered first modern fireboat. * John Kendall – (Detroit) – Steam fireboat on Detroit River 1930–1976. (retired, scrapped) * John J. Harvey – (New York City) (1931–1959) (Temporary reinstatement

9/11/2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

) (retired)(Museum ship) *

Massey Shaw ''Massey Shaw'' is a former London Fire Brigade fireboat, named after the first Chief Officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw. Built in 1935 and decommissioned in 1971, the vessel was restored in the early 21st ...

– (London, England) Serving in

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...

. Dunkirk Little Ship rescuing troops during

Operation Dynamo Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

(retired) * Phoenix – (San Francisco) (active) *

Pyronaut ''Pyronaut'' (originally ''Bristol Phoenix II'') is a specialised form of fireboat known as a fire-float. It was built in 1934 by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Albion Dock Bristol, Yard No. 208. Registered number 333833. She is owned by Bristol Mu ...

– moored at

Bristol Harbour Railway and Industrial Museum The Bristol Industrial Museum was a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour and which closed in 2006. On display were items from Bristol's industrial past – including aviation, car and bus manufactur ...

(

, England) (retired) * Ralph J. Scott – (Los Angeles) (retired) * Sir Alexander Grantham – (Hong Kong) (retired) * St. Mungo (fireboat) – Glasgow/Strathclyde (retired) *

Three Forty Three ''Three Forty Three'' is a ''Ranger 4200''-class fireboat that serves the New York City Fire Department as marine company 1. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and built to replace the 1954 . It was commissioned at 0900 hours on September 11, 2010, ...

–

(

) (2009) Country's largest fireboat, twin to

. (Active) *

Thomas D'Alesandro (fireboat) Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro Jr. (August 1, 1903 – August 23, 1987) was an American politician who served as the 41st List of mayors of Baltimore, mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Demo ...

– Baltimore (1956-2016) (retired) *

– Los Angeles (active) *

William F. Flanders William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

– (Boston) 1873 * William F. Havenmeyer – (NYC) 1875–1901 (retired) *

William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify the establishment of Upper Canada. He represe ...

– (

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada) (active) *

William O. Bird II William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

– Sandusky Fire Department (

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( west) and Cleveland ( east). At the 2020 United Stat ...

) (active) * USS ''Active'' / USS ''Lively'' – US Navy – Fireboat/Tug (1888–1945) Fireboat participated in

and fire. (retired and scrapped) * – US Army / US Navy – Fireboat/Tug (1865–1922) Fireboat participated in

and fire. (retired and scrapped) * – US Army / US Navy – Fireboat/Tug (1861) Fireboat participated in

and fire. (retired and scrapped)

Departments with fireboats

Government and military with fireboats

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard responsible for the protection of the Geography of Japan#Composition, topography and geography, coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It consists of about ...

– 9; 230 patrol boats with water cannons or firefighting support systems *

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

Fire class fireboat The Fire-class fireboats/yard tractor tugs were two fireboats operated by the Royal Canadian Navy. The two vessels are and . Design and construction ''Firebird'' was based at CFB Halifax, and ''Firebrand'' at CFB Esquimalt. According to the '' ...

of the Royal Canadian Navy's auxiliary fleet (2): ** CFAV ''Firebird'' (YTR 561) ** CFAV ''Firebrand'' (YTR 562)

References

External links

"Smoke Eaters On Water", May 1931, Popular Science
detailed article about New York city fireboats of that era
"Diesel Fire Boat Shoots Seventeen Streams"
''Popular Mechanics'', August 1937—i.e. article on Chicago Fire Department fire boat

Fred A. Busse (fireboat) Fred A. Busse (March 3, 1866 – July 9, 1914) was the mayor of Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois, from 1907 to 1911. Biography Early in his career, Busse worked as a bailiff. He was one of the bailiffs in the courtroom of Judge Theodor ...

Painting of the fireboat “The New Yorker,” 1893, in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database
* Book:
Fire - floats and fireboats
- David C Pike
type=Manufacturer “New type of fireboats”
{{Authority control Boat types

Boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...