Houston Acquires New Fire Boat

The Port of Houston Fire Department is about to take delivery of the first of three high-performance fireboats. 

A five-member crew, including three from the port authority’s fire department, brought the new craft from MetalCraft Marine Inc.’s construction facilities near the mouth of Lake Ontario across the Great Lakes to Chicago, from Chicago to New Orleans via the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, and across the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston, where it paused before continuing on to Houston.

The department operates four fire stations strategically positioned along the Houston Ship Channel. The personnel and equipment fight marine and land fires and respond to other emergencies in the upper ship channel, providing fire protection to the 25-mile long port.

The Firestorm 70 model is a state-of-the-art command center and high speed response vessel. Each fireboat is propelled by quad diesel inboard engines to a top speed of 45 knots and can make quick stops and change direction within three boat lengths.

On board accommodations enable the crew to stay on station for extended periods. The cabin includes a primary care berth with four secondary berths in the cuddy. Portable berths can be positioned in the aft equipment cabin to handle the injured at an incident.

Four firefighting pumps produce flow meter results of 13,600 gallons per minute (GPM) at 150 pounds per square inch (PSI) and 17,000 GPM at 130 PSI and stream up to 450 feet with a roof mounted monitor. This is three times the discharge rate of any of the current port authority fireboats. As a shore hydrant, the Firestorm 70 can pump 7,000 GPM at 70 PSI through 1,000 feet of hose from a 5-inch outlet before staging pumps are required.

American Association of Port Authorities
Asociación Americana de Autoridades Portuarias
1201 Maryland Ave SW, Suite 860, Washington, D.C. 20024
E: info@aapa-ports.org
W: www.aapa-ports.org