New High-Tech Boat Placed in Service by FL Fire Dept.

Fireboat 49, the newest addition to the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department, will not only speed rescuers to those in distress faster than ever, but it can sniff out chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, too.

It replaces a 27-foot fishing boat that the department put a pump on.

“It wasn’t really made for firefighting,” said Fire Rescue Deputy Fire Chief Timothy C. Heiser. “It’s what we could get at that time. We did our best to make it work.”

He beamed as looked at the new Fireboat 49. “It’s very impressive,” he said about the vessel that shoots 4,000 gallons of water per minute and can reach speeds of 40 knots.

The $1,055,000 MetalCraft Marine Firestorm 36 aluminum Fireboat was purchased through a federal grant.

Among its features:

It can sniff out chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive materials. It’s “equipped with sensors, we can actually take readings to see if boats going past have any of that stuff,” he said.
It has an enclosed compartment for authorities to better focus on track sonar — needed for when they are searching for bodies or cars underwater. “It’s almost like an office,” Heiser said, “as opposed to standing on the deck when it’s raining.”
There is a raised platform, allowing a better bird’s eye view for rescue workers. There’s a second steering station outside so the driver can keep his or her “eyes on the divers from the outside. [There’s the] option of doing either one” inside or outside, Heiser said.

Rescue workers have been training since August with help from crews in Miami-Dade, which has a similar vessel.

Fort Lauderdale’s boat was formally christened Friday. It will be staffed during business hours for now, but Heiser said ultimately the agency wants it on the seas 24 hours a day, every day.

“It’s really something,” he said. “Nobody in Broward County has anything like what we have — a fire boat specifically made for firefighting and [the] marine team.”

It will patrol the north and south fork of the New River, the Intracoastal. And it will be ready to respond offshore, such as a request to get a sick cruise ship patient to the hospital STAT.

It is named after Station 49, the station on State Road A1A. Two other, smaller boats will remain available — one is a back-up and the other is for “extreme emergencies” when two boats are needed to responded to the same call. Heiser said an example is in 1999 when two boats collided and five people were thrown into the water.

“This is more than exciting,” Heiser said of this latest addition to the fleet. “This is probably one of the biggest things to happen to this fire department. It’s going to change everything as far as marine response. It’s an incredible piece of equipment that is going to do amazing things for the community and give us opportunities to perform rescues we wouldn’t have been able to.”

Fireboat 49 will also be fire boat No. 1 in this month’s Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade when it leads the other decked-out vessels in the holiday event.

“Everybody’s excited about it,” Heiser said. “It’s probably the most photographed boat on the water.”

[email protected], 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash

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