Scheduled to Sail From the Boatyard to Chicago on Friday
A NEW FIREBOAT FOR THE CHICAGO FIRE DEPARTMENT has been completed and will be sailed from the Hike Metal Products shipyard in Wheatley, Ontario, Friday to be delivered to the City.
Photo by Dan Jasina
It replaces a 62-yr.-old craft, Fireboat Victor L. Schlaeger and is built to NFPA Fireboat III standards. According to the CFD website:
The boat is designed to operate year-round in Lake Michigan, the Chicago River, and surrounding harbors. It will be used to respond to the firefighting, rescue, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive incidents (CBRNE), Hazmat decontamination, dive operations, and other waterway related responses.
The 92-ft. Schlaeger is the city's only fireboat and is capable for icebreaking duty as well.
The Victor L. Schlaeger
The new craft is 90 feet long and has a pumping capacity of 14,000 gpm.
Chicago Area Fire has a good photo gallery of the new boat that were taken two days ago at the shipyard. (My favorite shot is the one showing the array of chromed deck guns on the bow.) CLICK HERE to view the collection posted by Dan Jasina.
How Times Change
The wheel house of the Schlaeger (above) compared
with the "Command Center" of the new boat (below)
The Chicago Fire Department website has a very extensive photo gallery of the new boat during all phases of its construction HERE. (Link repaired)
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