Fire Fighter News

Preservation efforts are underway to renovate an 85-year old vessel known as “America’s Fireboat”.Designed by noted naval architect William Francis Gibbs and built in 1938 at United Shipyards on Staten Island, the vessel Fire Fighter would go on to serve a long and storied career before being decommissioned and eventually transferred to The Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum in 2013.The iconic fireboat is undergoing extensive renovations to return the vessel to her original glory, the museum announced this week. Escorted by the U.S.

Electric vehicles are crisscrossing the globe to reach their eager buyers, but the battery technology involved in the zero- emission automobiles is exposing under-prepared maritime shippers to the risk of hard-to-control fires, industry, insurance, and emergency response officials said.That risk has been put under the spotlight by the burning car carrier [Freemantle Highway] drifting off the Dutch coast. The Dutch coastguard said the fire's cause was unknown, but Dutch broadcaster…

A new fireboat built by the Remontowa Shipbuilding SA shipyard in Gdańsk for Poland's Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority SA has been delivered in Szczecin.The new firefighting vessel Firefighter-28 left the Remontowa Shipbuilding SA shipyard in Gdańsk on November 13 and arrived at the port of Świnoujście the next day in the evening. On November 18, the delivery and acceptance protocol was signed, which means that the ship formally belongs to the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority SA.

The most important of all international maritime safety conventions is the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The first version was adopted at a conference in London in 1914. The catalyst for this conference was the sinking of the Titanic on her first voyage in April 1912, which cost the lives of more than 1,500 passengers. This was the beginning of the journey that put in place a regulatory framework to protect those who work and travel by sea.Whilst the sinking of the Titanic was not fire-related…

A cargo of Russian oil bound for Cuba's Matanzas terminal has been diverted to a smaller port, following a spectacular fire that destroyed a large portion of the island's main oil terminal, vessel monitoring data showed on Thursday.Lengthy power blackouts have followed the fatal blaze, which killed one firefighter and left 14 others missing. The outages are a sign of how the accident is aggravating a long-standing energy crisis due to an obsolete power grid and lack of fuel.The Liberia-flagged tanker NS Laguna carrying 700…

Massive clouds of steam rose from Cuba's largest fuel depot in Matanzas on Wednesday as firefighters, helicopters and boats poured water and foam on the smoldering remains of the largest fire in the island's history.Black charcoal covered with white ash remained red hot after the flames died down. One firefighter was confirmed dead, and 14 were unaccounted for since blast on Saturday, according to authorities."We can now say that the fire is controlled," Lt. Colonel Alexander Avalos, deputy chief of the firefighters tackling the blaze, told the media at the scene.

An inferno at Cuba's largest oil storage facility has killed at least one firefighter, injured many more, and threatens to further swell the fuel import bill for the impoverished island nation that relies on foreign oil for everything from transportation to its power grid.Cuban officials may need to scramble to set up expensive floating storage capacity to handle imports aimed at easing an acute fuel scarcity, sources and experts said on Monday.Cuba relies on the 2.4-million-barrel Matanzas terminal…

A third crude tank caught fire and collapsed at Cuba's main oil terminal in Matanzas, its governor said on Monday, as an oil spill spread flames from a second tank that caught fire two days earlier in the island's biggest oil industry accident in decades.Cuba had made progress fighting off the raging flames during the weekend after drawing on help from Mexico and Venezuela, but late on Sunday the fire began spreading from the second tank, which collapsed, said Mario Sabines, governor of the Matanzas province…

Cuba sought on Sunday to bring under control a fire at its main oil storage facility that has killed one firefighter, drawing on help from Mexico and Venezuela to fight the raging flames.A lightning strike on Friday ignited one of eight storage tanks at the Matanzas super tanker port 60 miles east of Havana. A second tank caught fire on Saturday, catching firefighters and others at the scene by surprise. Sixteen people were missing.The second explosion injured more than 100 people…

Swedish builder Marell Boats informs it has been awarded a new contract to supply five fast patrolling and interceptor vessels to the Norwegian Police. The five new M12 RIBs will be delivered during from the third quarter this year through the first quarter 2023, to five different locations in south of Norway.The medium-sized patrol boats will be used by the Norwegian Police for patrolling and assignments such as surveillance, search and rescue, boarding and control of recreational boats. It will also be used as a training platform of police personnel in boat handling and navigation.

Firefighters in Bangladesh brought a blaze at a container depot under control on Tuesday, three days after fiery explosions killed at least 43 people at a facility that a senior fire service official suspected had not followed safety guidelines.Drone footage showed smoke and rows of burnt-out containers from the fire that began late on Saturday, triggering blasts and blazes at Sitakunda, 40 km (25 miles) from the southeastern port city of Chittagong. Authorities have not determined…

An incorrectly installed section of main engine fuel oil return tubing led to an engine room fire aboard a containership off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday.Marine Investigation Report 22/15 details the NTSB’s investigation of the April 28, 2021, fire aboard the containership President Eisenhower while transiting through the Santa Barbara Channel. The vessel was transiting to Oakland, California with a crew of 22. The crew extinguished the fire using the engine room’s fixed carbon dioxide fire-extinguishing system. As a result of the fire, the vessel lost propulsion and drifted for several hours before being towed to the Port of Los Angeles. No pollution or injuries were reported.

Sweden-based Marell Boats and Scania Power Solutions are working to develop what they say is are next-generation sustainable and technologically advanced vessels as they prepare the launch of the M17 Patrol vessel with a hybrid driveline. The companies said they were collaborating to create "a sustainable and state-of-the-art vessel to meet the increased demand for hybrid solutions." According to the two firms, the M17 Patrol will become the most energy-efficient hybrid high-speed…

Califronia-based boat builder Moose Boats said it has hired Ken Royal as vice president of sales.Royal has extensive experience operating Moose Boats as a firefighter with the Tiburon Fire Protection District, and training other operators on Moose Boats, and will bring these skills and knowledge to help grow the Moose Boats brand. “Having logged over 15 years serving his district aboard two Moose Boats catamarans, we find his expertise in real world applications to be of great value to both current and prospective Moose Boats clients” said Stephen Dirkes…

“Fireboats are basically an insurance policy.” -Meeting minutes, Southeast Texas Waterways Advisory Council (SETWAC).Developments in America’s coastal ports are causing officials to closely review maritime safety operations and equipment. Fireboats draw a lot of attention. The reference here is to big fireboats – 40-50 feet, crewed by specially trained firefighters, outfitted with the equipment required to confront and take on a range of waterway emergencies. [CBRN is a frequent acronym used with these fireboats: Chemical…

From 2015 to present an estimated 250 incidents related to electric hoverboard fires have been recorded according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. The same commission reports that 83,000 Toshiba laptop batteries were recalled in 2017 due to fire and safety concerns.In January 2017 a NYC garbage truck was the source of a neighborhood surprise when a Lithium ion battery exploded in the compactor of the truck. Luckily no one was injured.According to a study conducted by the National Fire Data Center branch of the U.S.

An explosion injured several firefighters battling a blaze on board car carrier Höegh Xiamen at berth in Jacksonville, Fla. Thursday.The eight responders have been transported to the hospital for serious injuries, including two taken by air and two by ground to to Shands Gainesville burn unit. They are all in stable condition.All of the ship's 21 crew members are off the ship, uninjured and accounted for, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) said.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Jacksonville were notified at 3:53 p.m.

On March 3, the Coast Guard published a notice that Martin Midstream Partners (MMP), a petrochemical transport and storage company, was seeking approval to modify terminal operations in Beaumont, Texas, along the Sabine-Neches Waterway. If approved, MMP would expand its liquefied hazardous gas (LHG) operations, both in volume and products. Instead of just handling ammonia the change would allow shipments of butane, propane, ethane, ethylene and propylene.Critically, MMP’s expansion would increase LHG vessel transit from 24 ships to as many as 350 per year.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announced that two new Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) will be named in honor of Coast Guard reservists who served in the New York City Police Department and New York City Fire Department and lost their lives responding on 9/11.Adm. Karl Schultz, Coast Guard Commandant, is scheduled to announce that the new Sentinel Class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) will be named in honor of Port Security Specialist 2nd Class Vincent Danz and Machinery Technician 1st Class Jeffrey Palazzo.Danz served as a Coast Guard Reservist, as well as an NYPD officer at the Emergency Services Unit in the Bronx. He responded on 9/11 to aid…

One of two oil storage tanks ignited amid clashes at the Libyan oil port of Ras Lanuf has collapsed after burning for two days, a local engineer and a fire fighter said on Tuesday.Ras Lanuf's storage tank No. 12 was set on fire on Sunday, three days after another storage tank, No. 2 caught ablaze during an attack by an armed group.Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) has said that at least 400,000 barrels of storage capacity has been lost due the fires.Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli Writing by Aidan Lewis

Twelve people, including one firefighter, sustained minor to mild injuries after a container ship leaked a hazardous material in the Port of Long Beach in Southern California, WSJ reported. A 6,000-gallon container on the ship began leaking the liquid Sunday morning, Officer Brian Fisk with the Long Beach Fire Department said. Workers who were exposed to the leaking chemical, identified as propyl acetate, experienced shortness of breath, said Davonte Marrow, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard. The leak was contained and a 1,000-foot perimeter was established as a precaution. A dispatcher for the Port of Long Beach said the ship with the leaky container was the Harbour Bridge. The Coast Guard identified the liquid as propyl acetate, primarily used as a solvent.

Restrata, a global leader in consultancy and training services, has partnered with leading logistics provider Agility to offer specialised training for oil and gas sector employees at the Rumaila Energy Park (REP) in southern Iraq. The REP's new training centre will offer a wide range of courses related to health and safety and oil and gas industry operations. All training courses meet international standards, are accredited, and include transportation, catering and security services. The REP is a one million square meter, fully serviced industrial park developed by Agility Real Estate, providing a one stop shop for companies operating in southern Iraq.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. launched the Impala Soledad, the first in a series of four inland river towboats for IWL River, Inc. This series of CT Marine designed 134 ft. ABS Classed Inland River Service towboats are Triple Screw with a Retractable Pilothouse and all are currently under construction at Eastern’s Allanton facility. The vessel series is scheduled for delivery starting in late 2016 into 2017. The launch on June 10, 2016 was hosted by Eastern’s Project Manager Joe Stark, a Navy veteran, followed by a decorated 25 year career with the FDNY as a Marine Engineer.