Fireboats of California

California's major ports have long traditions of maintaining dedicated fireboats, and, soon after Al Qaeda's attack on September 1st, 2001, FEMA started issuing port security grants equipping fireboats for California's smaller ports, that are also equipped to work when hazardous materials have been released.[1][2][3]

Californian ports equipped with fireboats

image	city	first boat	number of boats	pumping capacity of most powerful boat	notes
	Long Beach, California	1942, Charles S. Windham[4]	4	41,000 gpm[5]
	San Diego, California	1919, Bill Kettner[6]	6		All six vessels have modest capacity -- the smallest is operated by the city's lifeguard department.
	San Francisco, California	1878, Governor Irwin	3	18,000 gpm
	Los Angeles, California
	San Rafael, California	2016 Confidence[7]	1		The $50,000 cost of this used vessel was paid for through a grant from a local charity.[7]
	Alameda, California	2001 Big Jim LeMoine	2	500 gpm	The Big Jim LeMoine was retired in 2008, and replaced by the superior, but still small Deanna Jo in 2014.

See also

• Fireboats of Long Beach, California
• Fireboats of San Diego
• Fireboats of San Francisco

References

1. Edward Montgomery Graham, David Matthew Marchick (2006). US national security and foreign direct investment. 978. Peterson Institute. p. 31. ISBN 0-88132-391-8.
2. "Review of the Port Security Grant Program" (PDF). Department of Homeland Security. 2005-01-10. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
3. "Fiscal Year 2015 Port Security Grant Program". FEMA. 2015.
4. Glen Goodrich (2005). Long Beach Fire Department: Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. p. 55. ISBN 9780738530017. Retrieved 2014-05-17. In 1942, the City of Long Beach commissioned the building of its first fireboat, the Charles S. Windham. The Windham was built by Wilmington Boats Works and financed by the Harbor Department.
5. Emily Thornton (2016-06-05). "Long Beach Fire Department Debuts New Boat". Long Beach Gazette. Retrieved 2016-06-06. The vessel, called “Protector,” has its dedication from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8, at the Port of Long Beach Joint Command and Control Center. The ceremony isn’t public, port media relations lead Lee Peterson said.
6. "Department History". San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Retrieved 2015-06-28. In 1919, the San Diego Fire Department christened the first gasoline powered fire boat in the world. The boat, the "Bill Kettner" was built from the keel up at the San Diego Fire Department shop, by firefighters.
7. Adrian Rodriguez (2016-10-14). "San Rafael Fire Department adds fire boat to fleet". Marin Independent Journal.