The Harbor Police Department is a unique agency because its officers are cross-trained as marine fire fighters. Our patrol boats pull double-duty as fire fighting boats and we respond to all fires within San Diego Bay, whether the fire is on a boat in mid-channel or at a marina.

Officers are sent to a two week-long department sponsored Marine Fire Fighting School to learn the art of fighting fires on vessels and in marinas. Each officer is fully equipped with fire fighting equipment and each boat has a water cannon capable of shooting a stream of water several hundred feet at a rate of 700-1000 gallons per minute. The officers can hook up a wide variety of hoses, nozzles, and foam spreading attachments to risers that are powered by the same pump engine as the water cannon. Whether a small electrical fire or a large vessel engulfed in flame, the Harbor Police are trained to contain the fire, knock it down, rescue trapped victims, protect adjacent vessels in a marina, and work with the San Diego Fire Department if necessary.

The Harbor Police Department works alongside member city fire departments - San Diego Fire, National City Fire, Chula Vista Fire, and Coronado Fire.