The Fire-class fireboats/yard tractor tugs were two

fireboat A fireboat or Fire-float Pyronaut, 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 ...

s operated by the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

. The two vessels are and .

Design and construction

''Firebird'' was based at

CFB Halifax Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax is Canada's east coast naval base and home port to the Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic fleet, known as Canadian Fleet Atlantic (CANFLTLANT), that forms part of the formation (military), formation Maritime Forces At ...

, and ''Firebrand'' at

CFB Esquimalt Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is the Royal Canadian Navy's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians ...

. According to the '' Canadian American Strategic Review'' the class was designed by naval architects Robert Allan Limited, and were built at Vancouver Shipyards in North Vancouver in 1978, and later acquired by the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

. The two ships displaced and were long, with a beam of and a draught of . The ships were powered by two azimuthing Z-drives and one hydraulic tunnel

bow thruster Manoeuvering thrusters (bow thrusters and stern thrusters) are transversal propulsion devices built into or mounted to either the Bow (watercraft), bow or stern (front or back, respectively) of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow th ...

. This gave the vessels a maximum speed of . The ships had a crew of five firefighters. The Fire class was equipped with three manually-controlled

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, two diesel-driven fire pumps capable of expending 2,500 gpm at each.

Ships in class

Service history

In 2008, ''Firebird'' helped extinguish a fire aboard the former

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and i ...

vessel in Halifax harbour. On 4 December 2012 the Department of National Defence published a Letter of Interest (LOI)/Request for Information (RFI) for Canadian shipbuilders interested in building replacements for the Glen-class tugs¸ and Fire-class fireboats. A single class would replace both the tugs and the fireboats, and would be operated by civilian crews. The replacement vessels would have water cannons that could be controlled remotely, by a single individual. The replacement vessels would have

bollard pull Bollard pull is a conventional measure of the pulling (or towing) power of a watercraft. It is defined as the force (usually in tonnes-force or kilonewtons (kN)) exerted by a vessel under full power, on a shore-mounted bollard through a tow-line, ...

of 40 tons—almost six times as much as the 7.5 tons the Fire-class vessels are capable of. On 29 January 2014, the availability of ''Firebird'' to fight fires was reduced due to budget cuts, being on standby only during weekdays during normal working hours. On 4 December 2014, ''Firebird'' was taken out of service in Halifax, and placed on the disposal list as a result of budget cuts. The ship will be replaced using tugboats from around the harbour.

Replacement

On 29 April 2019 the Government of Canada announced Ocean Industries of Isle-aux-Coudres,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

was awarded the contract to build four tow-tug/rescue vessels to replace both the Fire-class fireboat/tractor tugs and yard tugs with delivery expected from 2021 to 2023. The new tugs will be staffed by civilian crews and be restricted to the naval base/yard only.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fire class Auxiliary fireboat classes Ships of Canada Tugboats of the Royal Canadian Navy