It's arrived! The long-awaited fireboat, The Patriot, arrived yesterday for Tampa Fire & Rescue. I first posted about Tampa Fire Rescue's older 32-foot long fireboat HERE on May 27th. Along with greatly increased water pumping capacity, the equivalent of nine fire trucks, the new boat, a Firestorm 69 model, can reach 35 knots, weighs 52 tons and is powered by 825-hp diesel engines. MetalCraft Marine of Ontario, Canada built the Patriot and builds a variety of other specialized boats including high speed patrol boats, fire boats, rescue boats, and work boats. The Patriot is the fastest fireboat in the world and will pump 10,000 gallons per minute. It will officially be in service in a few weeks and will be manned by Tampa Fire Rescue's Station 17 crew on Davis Islands. They can respond to emergencies which may arise in the Port of Tampa, Port Manatee and throughout the Tampa Bay shipping channel. The new boat, which cost $3.8 million, was paid for with grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It is a fantastic ship!
I've attached a short new video from FOX 13 television which shows the boat in action as it arrived in Tampa Bay.
