Redwood City Fireboat Unveiling August 10

The Redwood City Fire Department asked community kids to offer their best names for the City's new fireboat - and more than 100 came through with a wonderful variety of entries.

The selection committee went through every name entered, and came up with the top 10, and from that top 10 the finalist will be chosen, to be painted on the stern of this new, important piece of firefighting equipment and unveiled at a special ceremony on August 10 at the Port of Redwood City .
 
The top 10 finalists are:
•    Aquarius
•    Bay Sentinel
•    Gladiator
•    Guardian
•    Hephaestus
•    Lifesaver
•    Mighty Sequoian Fire Fighter
•    Redwood City Fireboat
•    Sequoia
•    Shepherd

Along with the 10 finalists and their families, the community is invited to join in the special ceremony unveiling the fireboat's name Saturday, August 10, 2013, 1 pm, at the Port of Redwood City, 675 Seaport Boulevard.

This will be a chance for the community to get its first look at this new MetalCraft Marine FireStorm 36 fireboat - and to see its name unveiled.

The entire cost of Redwood City's new fireboat (nearly $1 million) was entirely funded with a federal Homeland Security/Port Security Grant. The grant also pays for training of existing Fire Department staff in the operation of all aspects of this great new firefighting tool.

With this new fireboat, the City will have the ability to better respond to water emergencies in all weather conditions, use the newest technology to locate vessels in distress, and enhance our firefighting capabilities both on the shoreline and on the water. That means better, faster, and more effective protection and ability to fight fires on or near the shore, whether housing, businesses, boats, or ships. This also gives us the ability to attack fires from both land and water, which is of great benefit to the community.

As recent events have shown (the recent 6-alarm fire in Redwood City and the jet crash at SFO), it's impossible to predict when a fire or other emergency will occur - but it's clear that having sufficient equipment and resources to respond to such emergencies and save lives is of the utmost importance. Redwood City's new fireboat will be available for mutual aid response to emergencies in other communities on the Bay, enhancing the overall safety and disaster preparedness for the region, especially in the event of a major disaster. As the only fireboat in the southern San Francisco Bay, this will be a key element in emergency preparedness for our community and for our neighboring communities as well.

The Redwood City Fire Department thanks all the kids who entered their favorite names for the new fireboat, and is looking forward to hosting the special naming ceremony on Saturday, August 10, in cooperation with the Port of Redwood City.