The ''Fireboat Tiburon'' is a modern

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 ...

acquired by

Tiburon, California Tiburon ( ; , ) is an incorporated town in Marin County, California. It is located on the Tiburon Peninsula, which reaches south into the San Francisco Bay. It shares a ZIP code (94920) with the smaller incorporated city of Belvedere (formerly ...

's fire department in 2006. Two thirds of the vessel's cost was paid through a Port security grant from

FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

, a sub-agency of the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

. She replaced a used vessel acquired from 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 ...

in 2003.

Operational history

On October 12, 2008, nearby Angel Island, a state park, was struck by serious brush fires. ''Fireboat Tiburon'' was one of the nearby fireboats which helped bring those fires under control. ''Fireboat Tiburon'' has rescued recreational boaters when their vessels were ablaze, helped fight those fires, and helped prevent the burning vessels from alighting vessels moored nearby. On April 20, 2019, the ''Tiburon'', and several other fireboats, engaged in a search for kayakers whose craft capsized. The kayakers were ultimately rescued by a

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary jurisdiction, including patrol and Criminal investigation, investigations, over all California Controlled-access highw ...

helicopter, two hours after the boaters phoned

911 911, 9/11 or Nine Eleven may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** The 2001 September 11 attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda, commonly referred to as 9/11 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that ousted the ...

Design

''Fireboat Tiburon'', like other fireboats purchased with the help of a port security grant, has first aid facilities and sensors for search and rescue. The vessel is a catamaran, with a 22 inch draft, and twin diesels engines power waterjets, not propellers, allowing her to be able to risk getting close to shore, without damage.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite news , url = https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Agencies-Make-Night-Rescue-Of-Capsized-Kayakers-13783992.php , title = Agencies Make Night Rescue Of Capsized Kayakers , work =

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

, date = 2019-04-21 , accessdate = 2019-04-22 , quote = The United States Coast Guard sent a helicopter to conduct a search while the San Rafael, Tiburon, Southern Marin and Kentfield fire departments launched fireboats and deployed crews along the shore. {{cite news , url = http://www.domesticpreparedness.com/Updates/Industry_Update/Moose_Boats_Delivers_M2-35_Fire-!Rescue_Boat_To_Tiburon_Fire_Protection_District/ , title = Moose Boats Delivers M2-35 Fire/Rescue Boat To Tiburon Fire Protection District , publisher = Domestic Preparedness , date = 2006-09-11 , location =

Petaluma, California Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, archivedate=2016-02-02 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160202051945/http://www.domesticpreparedness.com/Updates/Industry_Update/Moose_Boats_Delivers_M2-35_Fire-!Rescue_Boat_To_Tiburon_Fire_Protection_District/ , url-status = live , quote = The M2-35 vessel is fully equipped to mitigate open water emergencies including: search and rescue, medical support and transportation, hazardous material incidents as well as fire suppression, dewatering and dive operations. {{cite news , url = http://www.marinij.com/article/ZZ/20060822/NEWS/608229958 , title = A new lifesaver in Tiburon , author = Tad Whitaker , publisher =

Marin Independent Journal The ''Marin Independent Journal'' is the main newspaper of Marin County, California. The paper is owned by California Newspapers Partnership, which is in turn mostly owned by MediaNews Group.

, date = 2006-08-22 , accessdate = 2016-01-30 , archivedate = 2016-02-02 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160202052443/http://www.marinij.com/article/ZZ/20060822/NEWS/608229958 , url-status = live , quote = A Federal Emergency Management Agency grant paid $294,000 of the $380,000 cost of the new vessel. That means the town paid just $86,000 for a 35-foot aluminum catamaran that some said handles like a Jet Ski. {{cite news , url = http://www.marinij.com/article/ZZ/20140406/NEWS/140408698 , title = 8 rescued after boat catches fire near Tiburon , author = Janis Mara , publisher =

, date = 2014-04-06 , accessdate = 2016-01-30 , archivedate = 2016-02-02 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160202052452/http://www.marinij.com/article/ZZ/20140406/NEWS/140408698 , url-status = live , quote = Also, 911 was called and Fireboat Tiburon of the Tiburon Fire Protection District and Fireboat Liberty from the Southern Marin Fire Protection District were dispatched, according to the Tiburon department. {{cite news , url = http://www.marinij.com/article/NO/20150308/NEWS/150309829 , title = Boaters rescued off Tiburon after 43-foot yacht catches fire , author = Gary Klien , publisher =

, date = 2015-03-08 , accessdate = 2016-01-30 , quote = Ayers said fire boat crews spent about two hours extinguishing the flames while keeping the yacht away from the shore and other bay traffic. He said the damage to the boat could exceed $200,000, if it is salvagable at all. , archivedate = 2016-02-02 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160202052507/http://www.marinij.com/article/NO/20150308/NEWS/150309829 , url-status = live {{cite news , url = https://www.dvidshub.net/image/1089021/angel-island-fires#.Vq06a30rKVN , title = Angel Island Fires , publisher =

Dvidshub The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), formerly the Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System, is an operation supported by the Defense Media Activity (DMA). It provides a connection between world media and the American m ...

, date = 2008-10-13 , accessdate = 2016-01-30 , quote = A fireboat from the Tiburon Fire Department attempts to extinguish fires here Oct. 13, 2008. , archivedate = 2016-01-30 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160130002422/https://www.dvidshub.net/image/1089021/angel-island-fires#.VrA8fFUrKVO , url-status = live Fireboats of California