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At
All Times,
Service Above Self |
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City
of Los Angeles Port Fire Protection
LAFD's Marine Operation
by Brian Humphrey
LAFD Firefighter/Paramedic
Dear Friend of the LAFD:
Kindly allow me to share a brief overview of LAFD's Marine Operations
in the Port of Los Angeles by Assistant Chief John D. Badgett. |
LAFD's
Marine Operations in the Port of Los Angeles
by Assistant Chief John D. Badgett
Many of you are aware that the City of Los Angeles recently spent
nearly 12 million dollars to purchase four world-class Fireboats
as replacements for their aging predecessors.
One of these, new Fireboat 2, is recognized worldwide as the most
powerful Fireboat in service today. Later in this story, I'll address
what the City got for it's money, and why these boats are so uniquely
capable to perform their duties.
However, before we get there, have you ever wondered why the City
would spend this much money to replace four Fireboats, especially
in an era of declining tax revenue, and competing demands for funding?
Let's take a quick and somewhat broad look at the Port of Los Angeles,
and what it means to the overall health of the City.
The Port of Los Angeles, known as POLA, covers a total of about
8000 acres of area, including 43 miles of waterfront. It houses
27 terminals, numerous subsurface pipelines carrying various petro-
chemical products, recreational facilities, ecological preserves
and even restricted areas for endangered bird species.
The terminals process a wide range of goods that arrive in diverse
forms including containers of various sizes, liquid, dry and mixed
(or break) bulk commodities, and many makes of automobiles. In addition,
the cruise ship terminal services 12 cruise lines who carry approximately
one million travelers per year, and there are slips for approximately
6000 pleasure boats of various sizes.
The port is a global trading area, and it is the primary entry point
in the United States for goods from the Pacific Rim. Ships from
all areas of the world routinely call on the port including vessels
from Denmark, Japan, Mexico, China, South America, South Korea,
Southeast Asia, Taiwan, The United Kingdom and Vietnam.
As you can see, the port is a gateway to the world, and a major
relay center for international cargoes. The Port of Los Angeles
is the number one container port in the United States, handling
approximately six million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent) annually.
It is number eight in the world, and if combined with the neighboring
Port of Long Beach, the two become the third busiest container port
in the world behind Hong Kong and Singapore. With the advent of
even larger container ships, and our port's ability to receive them,
the volume through the port was projected to nearly double between
1998 and 2010, and it's on track to achieve those projections.
An incredible amount of infrastructure enhancement has taken place
in the last few years to ensure that the port maintains its ability
to attract commerce to this area.
Some of these may be familiar to you and others may not.
A few major examples are the construction of "Piers" 300 and 400.
Each site is a major landfill in the port. Pier 300 is approximately
300 acres in size, and pier 400 is approximately 600 acres in size.
Both have created additional container terminals where there was
once only water. Pier 400 by itself is the largest container terminal
in the world, and it's smaller neighbor, pier 300, is the largest
dedicated container terminal in North America. In addition, the
twenty-mile long, 2.4 Billion-dollar Alameda Corridor Project was
designed and built to provide enhanced train access directly to
the ships and their cargoes, and terminates at the water's edge.
As a result of the combined efforts of the Port and its tenants,
POLA's "economic engine" causes goods valued at more than 104 billion
dollars annually, to pass over the wharves of Los Angeles.
This port activity impacts nearly 260,000 jobs in Southern California,
(that's one in 24), and nearly a million jobs nationwide. Now, in
perspective, the purchase of modern, highly capable Fireboats to
help keep the port operating and safe from fires, and other types
of incidents starts to look like good business.
So, with your new port expertise, what kind of Fireboats would you
buy to protect this unique infrastructure, and where would you go
to get them?
Since August of 1909 members of our Fire Department have asked themselves
this question. Back then, when the communities of Wilmington and
San Pedro were annexed to the City, the LAFD inherited a new marine
responsibility. The City and its Fire Department initially answered
this question by contracting for the services of two tugboats that
had a level of Firefighting capability. These boats were normally
staffed by their civilian crews, but Firefighters were placed on
board when needed.
In 1915, the LAFD purchased its first purpose built Fireboat; a
20- foot vessel called the "Aeolian." As the challenges in the port
grew, and the LAFD became increasingly engaged in port fire protection,
the types and capabilities of the Fireboats also grew. Until April
12, 2003, our existing fleet of Fireboats consisted of three 34
foot, 1000 gpm "small boats," and two large boats.
Fireboat 2, the venerable Ralph J. Scott, built in 1925 was our
largest at 105' long, and capable of approximately 18,600 gpm.
Fireboat 4, the Bethel F. Gifford, built in 1962 and capable of
approximately 9000 gpm was, and remains, our second largest boat
at 76' long.
These vessels were all considered extremely capable when they were
put in service, and due primarily to various ideas for ongoing improvement,
and the high level of care that they received from their crews,
they remained effective much longer than their designers could have
anticipated. The Ralph J. Scott even became the oldest front line
Fireboat in the United States.
Fireboat 4, The Bethel F. Gifford, remains in service, highly capable,
and is expected to continue as such for many years to come. In fact,
in many ways it exemplifies the ongoing evolution of our Fireboat
fleet.
Fireboat 4 was built with a very limited Firefighting Foam capability,
however after recent design modifications, it now carries a state
of the art foam system and 2000 gallons of foam concentrate. The
boat was also recently re-powered, which has added the muscle for
it to continue in it's place as an exceptionally capable Marine
Firefighting tool.
However, as the recently retired Fireboats once replaced others,
our newest Fireboats are taking the heights. The new boats are the
result of a ten-year, joint effort project between the Fire Department
and the Port of Los Angeles.
It began with a focused needs assessment. This process researched
the current and projected future port protection role of the Fire
Service in the port area, including the possibility of responding
beyond the port's limits as needed. The port's hazards, potential,
and expansion projects were studied in close detail. The entire
port area was divided into hazard types, and then further refined
into specific target hazards. The target hazards were then measured
for fire flow, fire stream reach, potential Firefighting Foam requirements,
alternate water source needs and a wide range of other criteria.
Once this was accomplished, the data was compared against our existing
Fireboat capabilities, and the potential for enhancement, or reduction
was carefully studied. On completion, a list of equipment and capabilities
required to address the port's needs was developed.
This list included items such as Firefighting Foam capacities and
flow rates, on board EMS facilities, SCUBA program needs, towing
capabilities, improvised water supply ability and many many others.
Once all of these issues were addressed, the platform that would
best carry the equipment and address our delivery requirements was
researched. Among the top priorities for the new boat were overall
strength, longevity, technological superiority, and a wide range
of enhanced capabilities. Ultimately, Marine Architects and other
specialists were hired to formally develop the Department's specifications,
and the new large and small boats became a reality.
New Fireboat 2 was built at the Nichols Brothers Boat Yard in the
State of Washington. This builder is one of the best in the country
for vessels of this size, and was chosen because of their experience
building large Fireboats and Tractor Tugs. The Tractor Tug design
was chosen due to its tried and true reputation in the work boat
industry. The three new small Fireboats are identical to each other,
and were built by Kvichak Marine Industries in Seattle Washington.
This boat builder is also one of the best in the country, and has
a great deal of experience building mid sized Patrol and Fireboats.
The Department's new fleet of Fireboats were built to proudly serve
the citizens of Los Angeles, and the commercial port, for generations
to come. We fully expect that Firefighters who are yet to be hired
by the LAFD, will be long retired before these new Fireboats are
introduced to their replacements, many years in the future.
If you'd like to read more of Chief Badgett's overview of our 21st
Century Marine Operations, including photos and a side-by-side comparison
of new and old LAFD Fireboats, please visit:
For a more historic look at LAFD's Fireboats, please visit:
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Chief Badgett, a 31-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department
is presently Division Commander of Division II "A" Platoon, serving
the Southern end of our City. Chief Badgett has had extensive experience
in Harbor operations having been assigned as a Battalion Chief to
the Harbor and San Pedro area of Los Angeles.
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Paramedic
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
E-Mail: beh9593@lafd.lacity.org
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Los Angeles Fire Department Home Page:
http://www.lafd.org
Subscribe to the LAFD Public Information E-Newsletter:
http://www.lafd.org/info.htm
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