San Francisco's Mighty Fireboats

by: Bill Cereske

At the time of great quake of 1906, San Francisco had no 
fireboats.  Fortunately, we were able to enlist the 
services of two state combination tug / fireboats, the 
Governor Markham  and the Governor Irwin.

These two vessels are credited with saving the piers and 
shoreline buildings from the conflagration that laid much 
of our city to waste in 1906.

In the aftermath of that tragedy, San Francisco was quick 
to provide important fire improvements, most of which are 
still with us today.

One of those improvements was a pair of fireboats, the 
Dennis T. Sullivan (Named after the Fire Chief who 
perished in the earthquake) and the David Scannel (another 
Chief). Launched in May and June of 1909, this pair of 129 
foot long boats protected an active waterfront until 1954. 
Each was capable of pumping 4000 gallons per minute via 
nozzles or the 500 feet of hose each carried.

In 1947, the fleet was joined by a third fireboat, 
operated by the Port: The Frank G. White.  This 72 foot 
boat added another 6000 gallons per minute of pumping 
power.  In March of 1978, this boat was decommissioned in 
a move to save the port money.

By the early 1950's, the Sullivan and the Scrannel were 
becoming prohibitively expensive to maintain.  At least 
one boat had to be kept in readiness at all times, and 
this meant one crude oil burning boiler had to be kept at 
full pressure, while the other had to be kept hot.  This 
consumed a lot of fuel, not to mention the cost of 
watching the boilers at all times.

On June 22 1954, the fireboat Phoenix was commissioned and 
manned - replacing the two 1909 boats. She did not have 
long to wait for action.  On July 26 1954, she fought her 
first fire.

Today, the Phoenix is San Francisco's first line of 
defense on the water.  This 88 foot long boat throws a 
mighty firefighting punch:  9600 gallons per minute at 300 
pounds per square inch, either through it's three deck 
guns, two 10 inch under dock nozzles, a fourteen hydrant 
manifold on the deck or any combination.  She also carries 
3000 feet of 2-1/2 inch hose to connect to dockside 
emergency manifolds.  The manifolds were installed so the 
boats could pump water into the firefighting mains for use 
far inland.

Sometimes called "The little fireboat that could", The 
Phoenix could and did following the October 17 1989 
earthquake.  This is the boat that saved the Marina 
district that night.

During a visit to the boat, I got an idea of what she can 
do.  When the under dock nozzles are turned on, two solid 
10 inch  streams of water are unleashed, under such high 
pressure that pier pilings wave when hit by the stream.  
Using only one deck gun, your author was able to 
completely flood a pier to a depth of about an inch, in 
less than two minutes.  This is a potent weapon!

Following the 1989 quake, it was decided that a second 
fireboat would be a good idea.  This way, at least one 
fireboat is staffed and ready to go at all times.  No more 
"Russian Roulette" when it was time for it's annual haul 
out and maintenance, and most of the time TWO boats would 
be available for emergencies.  Good idea.

Although there was no money for a second fireboat, two 
anonymous benefactors from the Marina district emerged and 
gave The City the $300,000 to purchase a retiring fireboat 
from Vancouver, British Columbia.  As this boat is valued 
at $3,000,000 the price was an amazing bargain.  So secret 
are the donors, that there aren't even rumors about who 
they were.  Thank you, unknown benefactors.

The donors asked that the fireboat not be named for them, 
but named by San Francisco schoolchildren.  A 6 year old 
kindergardner came up with the winner: THE GUARDIAN.  In 
an amazing concidence, the winner was the son of a San 
Francisco firefighter.

The Guardian was touted to deliver an incredible punch of 
15,000 gallons per minute.  During her initial sea trials, 
something seemed wrong.  The boat seemed to be delivering 
much more than the advertised flow of water, but how could 
that be?

It turned out that the Canadians had been right about the 
15,000 gallon rating, only they used the IMPERIAL gallon, 
not the American gallon.  The Imperial gallon is about 20% 
more than the American, so the Guardian delivers an 
unbelievable 18,000 gallons per minute at 300 p.s.i.!  She 
can deliver over 25,000 g.p.m. at less pressure.

This brings our fireboat total water to 27,600 gallons per 
minute at 300 p.s.i.  To put it in perspective, this is 
using five and one half 5000 gallon swimming pools on a 
fire every minute.  At less than 300 p.s.i. even more.  
Your average house pressure is about 35 p.s.i.  Figure it 
out.  Wow.

9 Sept 1994