The danger of train derailments, toxic spills and fires on Pittsburgh’s three rivers has prompted the city to reallocate money to buy a fireboat.
The city’s Equipment Leasing Authority unanimously voted last month to allow the purchase of a fireboat for $400,000 out of $600,000 initially intended to buy an aerial firetruck this year.
The authority, created in 1980, acquires, maintains, repairs and replaces the city’s vehicles and has a $6.6 million budget this year, according to the city.
Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich told the authority that the watercraft would help manage fires on waterways, waterfronts, rail lines and at marinas that are inaccessible from land, according to minutes from a special meeting April 28.
“We had no way to respond to anything like that happening. It was of grave concern to [the director],” Pittsburgh City Council President Bruce Kraus said Thursday. He’s also the authority’s assistant treasurer.
Fire Chief Darryl Jones briefed the board during the meeting on possible plans for the boat, which could be stationed near PNC Park at River Rescue and also used in rescue efforts.
The custom-made vessels, which can pump up to 2,000 gallons of water per minute on fires, can take six months to deliver, Chief Jones said, and similar watercraft elsewhere cost about $2,000 annually to maintain and operate.
The chief also talked to the board about a possibility for staffing in which an engine company could man the boat during an emergency, taking one truck out of service.
“Staffing and deployment of the boat has yet to be determined. We are so early in this process,” Chief Jones said Thursday, adding that those details will have to be negotiated with Pittsburgh Fire Fighters Local No. 1.
“We think it’s a step in the right direction to protect our waterways with the amount of hazardous material that travels up and down our waterways everyday,” said Ralph Sicuro, president of the firefighters’ union.
The authority agreed to the plan as long as the Fire Bureau searches for grants to help with costs associated with the boat and that no extra hires are needed to staff it.
The city gave up an inactive fireboat in 1973, budget director and voting member Bill Urbanic noted during the meeting.
Lexi Belculfine: lbelculfine@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878. Twitter: @LexiBelc.
First Published: May 12, 2016, 8:25 p.m.
Updated: May 13, 2016, 3:21 a.m.
