Fireboat

Fireboat II at a demonstration in Wilhelmshaven

A fireboat ( LB ) is the general name for watercraft that are specially equipped and manned for the purposes of the fire service , disaster control or comparable institutions.

Equipment and application indications

Fireboat on the Elbe in Hamburg

Fire-fighting equipment is common on these workboats , which is usually aimed at fighting a fire from the waterside. For this purpose, among other things, powerful centrifugal fire pumps and often also special nozzles (fire monitors) are available. Because of the existing pumps, fire boats are also often used to create a powerful water supply for units on land that is independent of the public drinking water network in the event of major land fires . In the immediate vicinity of water bodies, however, they are mostly used for direct fire fighting . Boats can also be deleted at sea using the ship firefighting find. These fireboats usually have significantly larger dimensions than fireboats on inland waters, so that they can also be used in difficult weather conditions (heavy seas, strong winds, etc.).

Ships carrying out fire extinguishing operations must have a high degree of maneuverability. Some fireboats use the Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) for this . Operated with constant engine speed, it is possible to use the main engines to drive the fire extinguishing pump. In order to be able to raise the required high extinguishing capacity, the fire extinguishing pumps require approx. 60 - 70% of the drive power. Since the drive power consumed by the VSP is limited, the Voith Water Tractor (VWT) remains fully maneuverable during fire-fighting operations. The power is sufficient to maneuver the VWT, bring it into position and hold it against external forces. A well-known example is the currently most powerful fireboat in the USA, the LA Fireboat 2. Equipped with ten fire cannons, it is able to pump 120 cubic meters of water mixed with foam to the source of fire in one minute. The two Voith Schneider propellers are each driven by a 1,800 hp diesel engine. Generators, which are also driven by the diesel engines, provide sufficient energy to operate four of the six pumps with delivery rates between 17 and 28 cubic meters per minute.

Operators and crews

Fire brigade multi-purpose ferry RPL 7 of the fire brigade Remagen

Fire boats are usually held by fire departments in larger cities . Cities that have port facilities in their catchment area that are economically or in some other way security-relevant use fire boats to secure the port areas. The high risk potential resulting from the high fire load and sometimes large quantities of dangerous goods make this necessary. Due to the low number of deployments compared to, say, fire engines, such fire boat units are not always permanently staffed.

For example, a skipper and a machinist can act as crew . In this way, the manning of the firefighting boat guarantees that they have adequate knowledge of shipping and safety on the water. The minimum number of crew members required is determined by the ship inspection commission (SUK) and is entered in the ship's certificate. It depends, among other things, on whether the fireboat is equipped with a one-man or two-man control stand.

Bremen 1 of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is a special case . The ship is manned by the Bremen police during regular operations . Rescue teams from the Bremen fire brigade are only added if necessary . The fire brigade in Hamburg is planning something similar with two new 35-meter-long multi-purpose boats that are 'normally' used by the Hamburg Port Authority .

On the German coast, in addition to the fire boats of the local fire brigades in larger port cities, the rescue cruisers of the DGzRS , which have powerful fire extinguishing equipment, also perform the tasks of fire boats. In addition, some of the harbor tugs are equipped with fire extinguishing systems.

On the inland waterways, the fire brigades use multi-purpose boats , which are also suitable for fire extinguishing operations. A portable pump can be connected to an A-suction connection in the bottom of the boat . A holder for a jet pipe facilitates these extinguishing operations.