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Boating
Freshwater Fireboat--Alki is Ready
By Jo Bailey and Carl Nyberg
Engineer Dianna Knue demonstrates the old-style telegraph from the pilot house of the Alki to the engine room. Jo Bailey photo. |
"It's about time!"
"Alki is a step in the right direction," Chief Engineer Dick Chester.
"We've been pushing to have a fireboat on the fresh water for a long time," Robert Bagley, a deck hand who doubles as acting engineer on the vessel.
So say some of the enthusiastic Seattle firefighters who run the fireboat Alki, now stationed on the former fuel dock at the Port of Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal inside the locks. The vessel is given free moorage by the Port.
The 123-foot Alki has a shorter response time to fires inside the locks than the Chief Seattle moored on Alaskan Way next to Colman Ferry Dock. It takes over an hour for Chief Seattle to leave its moorage and get through the locks into the fresh water.
The first Seattle fireboat was put into service in 1889 and the fire department has had one in service ever since on the downtown waterfront. Fires inside the locks have been handled by shoreside firefighters and the Harbor Patrol boats with small pumps, until the Chief Seattle could arrive, but no fireboat has been stationed on the city's freshwater lakes until now.
Alki moved to her new berth from the downtown waterfront station in mid-May, about a week after the devastating fire at Seattle Marina near Gas Works Park on Lake Union in which about 30 boats were sunk.
Two other major marina fires on Lake Union and Portage Bay within the past year also helped the city decide to move the vessel so it could more quickly respond to emergency calls from the many commercial and recreational boat facilities and houseboats on the Ship Canal, Lake Union, Portage Bay and Lake Washington.
The Seattle Yacht Club fire on Portage Bay on January 29 of this year sank or seriously damaged more than a dozen recreational boats; on May 28, 2001 Cadranell Marina on the east shore of Lake Union suffered a major fire, sinking and damaging boats. A fire destroyed a houseboat on Portage Bay less than two years ago.
There have also been fires on commercial vessels along the Ship Canal. The last major fire was on August 8, 2001 aboard the Ocean Pride. Several firefighters suffered heat exhaustion in that fire.
Fireboat Alki, now moored inside the locks at Fishermen's Terminal. Jo Bailey photo. |
The Alki, built in 1927, was a rescue boat for years, said Chief Engineer Chester. The boat has seldom been in service in recent years, although she has been seen in Opening Day ceremonies in May.
"The boat has a top speed of 13 knots at 1300 rpm, but we must legally run at only 7 knots in the (7 mile-long) Ship Canal because waves (wake) from the Alki could do considerable damage to moored boats and houseboats" Chester said.
Alki has a crew of five, with an engineer on duty round the clock, working a 24-hour shift. There is also a pilot, fire officer, deck hand and assistant engineer. In the event of a call, four members from engine crew 5 on the downtown waterfront station arrive at Fishermen's Terminal in an emergency vehicle in five to seven minutes, about the same time it takes the engineer to fire up the boat, which can be underway in less than 12 minutes from the time of the call.
The crew has responded to about a dozen calls, including water rescues, a sinking boat, a car in the water, a structure fire, a boat fire and other calls since its arrival on the Ship Canal. All crew members are also EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians).
Dianna Knue is an acting engineer on the Alki, one of four engineers. She is the only woman in the fire department's marine program, has been with the department for 19 years and on a fireboat for the past seven.
"I love it," she said enthusiastically as she explained about the fireboat.
"The Alki was built just 12 years after the Titanic was built and sank. The 123-foot riveted steel hull is 26-feet wide, " she said. "Originally Alki was powered by gas and switched to diesel in 1947.
"Two Cleveland diesels of 500 horse power each drive her. There are six pumps below, each driven by twin 671s--two per pump--which can pump 16,000 gallons of water per minute. The DC generator is also a 671, and the AC pump is a John Deere with Northern Lights generator," she said. Six monitors and pumps are up forward and on the stern.
When a call comes in, Knue or another engineer immediately goes below to the engine room and fires up those two diesels to ready the boat for the run. An old-style telegraph between the wheelhouse and the engine room allows the ship's pilot to give commands to the engineer.
Knue (pronounced canoe) says her shifts on the fireboat work out well with her husband, 7-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, all of whom are proud of the work she does.
And hopefully, commercial vessels, recreational mariners, marina operators and houseboat owners inside the locks will feel a bit less threatened, know a fireboat is on nearby waters, ready to come to their assistance.
Reader Comments
Discuss this article in the forums!
| Jim Michel | Sep 29, 2003 | Lakeville MN 55044 | fire marshal |
| Is the boat open for viewing? I am going to be in the Seattle area with in the next two weeks. | |||
| maria johnson | Mar 01, 2004 | tucson, az | FireFighter |
| Has there been a fire in a dock in Seattle this last weekend of February???. If there was one, could you please tell me how many boats it involved and exactly where it happened? Thank you, Maria | |||
