Fireboat to the rescue

With a long pull of the fire horn, Marine 1, a fireboat that is the newest addition to the East Rockaway Fire Department, motored into the Talfor Boat Basin on the village’s waterfront last Sunday, presented to the public for the first time.

Fire Department members, residents, public officials and invited guests from nearby fire departments lined the walkways and gangplanks on both sides of the canal, cheering as the 25-foot state-of-the-art boat docked for her christening ceremony.

“The acquisition of this unique piece of apparatus is a first in our village’s history,” said Mayor Francis T. Lenahan. “We are a community made up of inland creeks, canals, wetlands, and we’re bordered by large bodies of water. The Fire Department now has the capability [to protect] life and property throughout these waterways.”

“This fire rescue boat will be utilized for fighting fires, deploying rescue divers and swimmers and providing perimeter security during water rescue operations,” said East Rockaway Fire Chief Peter Chojnacki. “Our ability to handle the variety of emergencies that occur in our local waterways will be greatly enhanced.”

Chojnacki explained that the ERFD is actually responsible for more water than land, so the boat will not only improve the department’s ability to respond to incidences on the water, but also help it better assist neighboring communities that share the same waterways. It will also improve department access to residences and buildings on or near the water.

A state-of-the-art water vehicle

Marine 1 was manufactured by Brunswick Commercial & Government Products Inc. of Edgewater, Fla. Adhering to strict government specifications, it is equipped with twin 150-horsepower Mercury Verado Saltwater engines, Raymarine navigation systems, a Raystar 12-channel satellite differential GPS system, radar, an 18-horsepower, 375 gallons-per-minute fire pump and the latest VHF and low-band VHF communications systems used by fire services.

“The sophisticated features of this boat will augment the effectiveness of our water rescue unit,” said Chojnacki, “and provide our firefighters with an additional resource in combating coastal fires.”