St. Francis (fireboat)

St. Francis
SF Fireboat 3
In October, 2016, San Francisco's new fireboat, helped the US Navy celebrate Fleet Week.

In 2016 San Francisco, California started to operate new fireboat, initially called simply Fireboat 3, but was renamed the St. Francis, on October 17, 2016.[1][2][3] She was given the official name on October 17, 2016, the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.[4] Local schoolchildren helped pick the vessel's name.[5][6]

Most of the vessel's $11.8 million construction cost was paid for from a port security grant from the Department of Homeland Security.[5]

Senator Diane Feinstein attended the vessel's christening.[3] 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, 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.

specifications[4]
feature value
length 88 feet (27 m)
breadth 25 feet (7.6 m)
draft 14 feet (4.3 m)
power 750 horsepower (560 kW)
pumping capacity 18,000 gpm

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. Francis (ship, 2016).
  1. ↑ Peter Ong (2014-12-16). "Meet SFFD's New Fireboat Technology". Marinelink. Archived from the original on 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2014-12-16. 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.
  2. ↑ "Third fireboat to join city's legendary fleet". San Francisco Examiner. 2015-11-24. 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.
  3. 1 2 Carl Nolte (2016-10-17). "SF welcomes new fireboat to fleet on anniversary of Loma Prieta". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-10-16. 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.
  4. 1 2 "Vigor delivers new fireboat to San Francisco". Seattle: Professional Mariner. 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2016-10-16. 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.
  5. 1 2 "New Fire Boat Joins San Francisco's Department". KPIX 5. 2016-07-25. Retrieved 2016-10-16. A port security grant covered a majority of the $11.8 million to pay for the fire boat.
  6. ↑ Meera Pal (2016-04-21). "SFFD asking students to name their newest fire boat". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-10-16. 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.'
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