''St. Francis'' is a

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 ...

operated by the

San Francisco Fire Department The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) provides firefighting, hazardous materials response services, rescue, technical rescue services and emergency medical services, emergency medical response services to the San Francisco, City and County of ...

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

since 2016. Also known as ''Fireboat 3'', she was given the official name on October 17, 2016, the anniversary of 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 ...

. Local schoolchildren helped pick the vessel's name.

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 ...

had been about to retire the Phoenix, its last fireboat, when the earthquake proved its worth. The earthquake broke water mains. The Phoenix was equipped with extra fire-hose couplings, so her pumps were able to provide water pressure to a temporary network of fire-hoses, so local fire engines could fight fires in neighborhoods where the earthquake broke underground pipes. Most of the vessel's $11.8 million construction cost was paid for from a port security grant from the

U.S. 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 involv ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...

attended the vessel's christening. According to the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', Feinstein was largely responsible for securing $8 million in federal funds to pay for the vessel. Feinstein reflected on how, during her time as San Francisco's mayor, some fiscal conservatives wanted to retire the city's last fireboat, '' Phoenix'' and how that vessel proved its worth during the Loma Prieta earthquake, when she was able to pump water to substitute for fire mains broken during the quake. On May 23, 2020, the ''St. Francis'' and her crew saved the

SS Jeremiah O'Brien SS ''Jeremiah O'Brien'' is a Liberty ship built during World War II and named after the American Revolutionary War ship captain Jeremiah O'Brien (1744–1818). Now based in San Francisco, she is a rare survivorThe tugboat '' Nash'', another Nat ...

, a World War II museum ship, when a major fire broke out on Pier 45, where she was moored.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite news , url = http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/07/25/new-fire-boat-joins-san-franciscos-department/ , title = New Fire Boat Joins San Francisco's Department , publisher = KPIX 5 , date = 2016-07-25 , accessdate = 2016-10-16 , quote = A port security grant covered a majority of the $11.8 million to pay for the fire boat. {{cite news , url = http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/SFFD-asking-SF-students-to-name-their-newest-boat-7258443.php#photo-2162514 , title = SFFD asking students to name their newest fire boat , publisher =

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. ...

, author = Meera Pal , date = 2016-04-21 , accessdate = 2016-04-21 , quote = Scanlon says the new boat will enhance the department's marine firefighting and response on the Bay. In addition to providing support for water rescues and protecting the Port of San Francisco, the boat will also be able to serve {{'as a redundant water source for Fire Department engines in the case of an emergency, as it can pump water directly from the Bay.{{' {{cite news , url = http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-welcomes-new-fireboat-to-fleet-on-anniversary-9979107.php , title = SF welcomes new fireboat to fleet on anniversary of Loma Prieta , publisher =

, author = Carl Nolte , date = 2016-10-17 , accessdate = 2016-10-16 , quote = The new boat, painted red and white, will be the city’s third fireboat. It was named St. Francis and christened with the traditional bottle of Champagne by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who helped get $8 million in federal grants, the majority of the cost. {{cite news , url = http://www.professionalmariner.com/Web-Bulletin-2016/Vigor-delivers-new-fireboat-to-San-Francisco/ , title = Vigor delivers new fireboat to San Francisco , publisher = Professional Mariner , date = 2016-08-16 , location =

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, accessdate = 2016-10-16 , quote = The new fireboat, which has not yet been named, will be christened on Oct. 17, which also happens to be the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. {{cite news , url = http://www.sfexaminer.com/third-fireboat-to-join-citys-legendary-fleet/ , title = Third fireboat to join city's legendary fleet , publisher =

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

, date = 2015-11-24 , quote = Deputy Chief of Administration Raymond Guzman told Fire Commissioners at a meeting in late October that the department may need to decommission one of the boats. “At this point we’re going to have three fireboats for a while and we still need to determine whether we’re going to keep two or three,” he said. {{cite news , url = http://www.marinelink.com/news/technology-fireboat-sffds382437.aspx , title = Meet SFFD's New Fireboat Technology , publisher = Marinelink , author = Peter Ong , date = 2014-12-16 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20141217022652/http://www.marinelink.com/news/technology-fireboat-sffds382437.aspx , archivedate = 2014-12-17 , accessdate = 2014-12-16 , url-status = live , quote = Surrounded on three sides by water with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Golden Gate Strait to the north, and San Francisco Bay to the East, the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) currently relies on two old and refurbished fireboats, the Phoenix (built in 1954) and the Guardian (built in 1951) to serve as fire protection assets for the waters around the City. {{cite news , url = http://bayareauasi.org/sites/default/files/resources/050814%20Agenda%20Item%204%20Appendix%20A.pdf , title = San Francisco Fire Department: New Fireboat Project , publisher =

, author = Johanna Hayes-White , accessdate = 2016-04-24 , quote = In 2013, FEMA awarded the SFFD 7.6 million dollars to fund the project. {{cite news , url = http://www.bayareauasi.com/sites/default/files/resources/050814%20Agenda%20Item%204%20Appendix%20A.pdf , title = New fireboat project , publisher =

, author = Joanne Hayes-White , accessdate = 2014-10-13 {{cite news , url = http://abc7news.com/news/lessons-learned-from-loma-prieta-earthquake/349748/ , title = Lessons learned from Loma Prieta earthquake , publisher =

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, author = Cheryl Jennings , date = 2014-10-13 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20141014210623/http://abc7news.com/news/lessons-learned-from-loma-prieta-earthquake/349748/ , archivedate = 2014-10-14 , url-status = live , quote = San Francisco is now building a third more modern fire boat, but still needs funding for more portable hydrants. {{cite news , url = https://www.centralmaine.com/2020/05/31/bill-nemitz-long-live-the-lucky-obrien-the-last-of-maines-liberty-ships/ , title = Bill Nemitz: Long live the 'Lucky O'Brien' – the last of Maine's Liberty ships , work =

Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald'' (abbreviated as ''PPH''; Sunday edition ''Maine Sunday Telegram'') is a daily newspaper based in South Portland, Maine, with a statewide readership. The ''Press Herald'' mainly serves southern Maine and is focused ...

, author = Bill Nemitz , date = 2020-05-31 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200601005018/https://www.centralmaine.com/2020/05/31/bill-nemitz-long-live-the-lucky-obrien-the-last-of-maines-liberty-ships/ , archive-date = 2020-06-01 , access-date = 2023-02-20 , url-status = live Fireboats of California Transportation in San Francisco 2016 ships