Harbor Police Department Unveils New Firefighting Vessels

Thursday, 18 November 2010
Contact: John Gilmore (619) 341-5684, (619) 686-7206, Barbara Moreno (619) 686-6216

Think of them as fire engines on the water.

The Port of San Diego's Harbor Police Department is home to two new firefighting vessels. The boats, called FireStorm 36's and constructed by Metal Craft Marine in Canada, are built from the keel up with firefighting in mind.

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"These new vessels will be replacing 30-year old vessels that have been in service for a very long time," said Harbor Police Chief John A. Bolduc. "This is the state-of-the art technology that we have been seeking for our patrol functions and our firefighting functions. An added bonus is that we were able to incorporate several environmentally friendly concepts in their design."

The Harbor Police Department patrols and protects the tidelands and San Diego Bay, which includes five member cities from San Diego, Coronado, Chula Vista, National City and Imperial Beach. The Port of San Diego is also a strategic port – meaning the port must coordinate and work with the military when needed. The Harbor Police work in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, federal Homeland Security officials and Customs and Border Patrol.

"We have 22 square miles of water that we cover with vessels 24-7," Bolduc said. "It's very important that we have a very good strategy for protecting the bay, protecting the port and protecting the entire region."

The Harbor Police Department is a unique law enforcement agency in that all of its officers are trained firefighters.

In 2009, the Harbor Police were awarded $1.9 million dollars from a California Port Maritime Security Grant. The grant helps subsidize the procurement of "all-hazards equipment" for local agencies – equipment that serves a multi-role function for first responders.

"It's basically an exciting time for the department because it allows us to go to the next level as firefighters – on the water and as police officers," said Sgt. David Fouser. "With these vessels, our response times will be cut in half and we have more than double the capacity of pumping water."

The onboard pumps also have the ability to provide water to landside apparatus in the event that city water supplies are disrupted do to catastrophic failure from a major earthquake or other disaster.

The older vessels used by the Harbor Police have been in use for 35 years and cost $80,000 annually to maintain, Fouser said. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency developed new guidelines for the marine environment that would require all vessels to be in compliance by 2014.

The Harbor Police realized that meeting these requirements would involve a complete engine retrofit of all of their fire vessels. A committee was formed that included representatives from the Port's Harbor Police and General Services departments to develop new specifications for the next-generation fire vessels.

Once the specifications were made, they were put out to bid in a nationwide search for a manufacturer. Metal Craft Marine met all the requirements. The state-of-the-art technologies also carry over to environmental protection.

"These boats exceed the minimum requirements we needed to come up with for emission control," Fouser said. "The vessels also have onboard systems which prevent any fuel spillage overboard. It's more of an environmentally friendly vessel."

Taking the environmental approach one step further, both vessels arrived from Metal Craft Marine coated with an environmentally friendly non-copper hull paint. This follows right along with the Port's resolution to reduce copper in the bay and its efforts to convert the entire Port fleet of vessels to non-copper hull paints by the end of 2012.

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“We have a requirement to reduce copper in the bay and we’re determined to be proactive in our commitment to non-copper strategies,” said Bolduc. 

The Port is working on obtaining federal grant funds to purchase three more fireboats by the end of 2011.

"There's been a great deal of interest because we think this is a universal platform and other ports I think will follow our lead on this," Bolduc said.

Facts about the FireStorm 36

• Speed: 42 mph
• Length: 39' 2"
• Draft: 13"
• NFPA Class: C*
• Pump (rated): Darley 1500 GPM
• Flow meter results: 2200 GPM full flow (monitor and two hand lines)
• Monitor: Elkhart 5378 Streammaster
• Engine: Twin Cummins Diesel 430 HPQSM11 6CTA8.3
• Jets: Hamilton 322
• Hull Paint: e-Paint Sunwave