Leschi (fireboat)

{{Short description|Fireboat operated by the Seattle Fire Department}}

{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image=LESCHI.jpg

|Ship caption =Leschi

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{{Infobox ship career

|Ship country= United States

|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|US}}

|Ship name=Leschi

|Ship owner=City of Seattle

|Ship operator=Seattle Fire Department

|Ship namesake=Chief Leschi

|Ship registry= Seattle{{cite web|title=Coast Guard Vessel Documentation|url=http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/pls/webpls/cgv_pkg.vessel_name_list|website=st.nmfs.noaa.gov|publisher=NOAA|access-date=5 August 2015}}

|Ship route=

|Ship ordered=2004

|Ship in service=2007

|Ship identification=*{{MMSI Number|367149030}}

|Ship builder= Dakota Creek Industries

|Ship location= Seattle, Washington

|Ship area =

|Ship architect= Jensen Marine Consultants

|Ship architecture=

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

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|Ship type=Fireboat

|Ship tonnage=

|Ship displacement= {{convert|303|t|abbr=on}}

|Ship length={{convert|108|ft|abbr=on}}{{cite web|title=M/V LESCHI |url=http://www.dakotacreek.com/construction_projects/leschi.html |website=dakotacreek.com |publisher=Dakota Creek Industries |access-date=5 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122333/http://www.dakotacreek.com/construction_projects/leschi.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}

|Ship beam={{convert|26.4|ft|abbr=on}}

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|Ship draft={{convert|10|ft|abbr=on}}

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|Ship speed= {{convert|14|knot}}

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|Ship boats=1

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|Ship crew=4

|Ship notes=

}}

Leschi, named for the native American leader Chief Leschi, is a fireboat operated by the Seattle Fire Department. The ship was laid down in 2006 and commissioned in 2007; its sponsor was Sharon Nickels, wife of the then-mayor Greg Nickels.

The {{convert|108|foot|adj=on}} Leschi has been described as the "dreadnought of Seattle's fireboat fleet". Carrying a normal complement of four, its mission includes firefighting, search and rescue, and response to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) emergencies. It can also be used as a mobile pump and fuel station and as emergency medical treatment and command center.

History

=Background=

File:Port of seattle.jpg

Seattle is one of the largest ports on the United States west coast and waterfront fires have been a continual concern for the city. Since 1891 the Seattle Fire Department has regularly operated at least two fireboats, which can be augmented by ships and small craft with fire suppression capabilities from the U.S. Coast Guard, Seattle Police, and neighboring municipalities. One of the worst maritime fires in the city's history occurred in 1968 when an electrical malfunction at Todd Shipyards sparked a fire that took 14 engine companies, two fireboats, two U.S. Coast Guard cutters, and several conscripted Foss Maritime tugboats more than half-a-day to extinguish.{{cite web|last1=McClary|first1=Daryl|title=Fire breaks out at Todd Pacific Shipyards (Harbor Island, Seattle) on November 28, 1968.|url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=10043|website=historylink.org|publisher=History Ink|access-date=12 March 2016}}

In the 1970s the United States Maritime Administration funded a special program to train a contingent of 50 Seattle firefighters to provide land-based support in the control and extinguishing of dockside and shipboard conflagrations. The effort, which was studied by the Stanford Research Institute, later became a model for other waterfront cities.{{cite book|title=Major Ship Fire Extinguished by CO2 - Seattle, Washington|date=1991|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=4}}{{cite book|last1=Schneider|first1=Richard|title=Seattle Fire Department|date=2007|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1439634332|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xOFwidZmgzIC}}

=Procurement=

Prior to Leschi{{'}}s construction, Seattle's flagship firefighting vessel was the aging Alki, which was built in 1927 and operated alongside a newer vessel, Chief Seattle.{{cite news | last1=Broom| first1=Jack| title=Want a fireboat?| url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/want-a-fireboat-1927-alki-may-be-scrapped-if-no-buyer-found/| access-date=5 August 2015| work=Seattle Times| date=23 August 2014}} Once known as the world's third "most powerful fireboat," by the early 2000s the antique Alki had become increasingly difficult to operate.{{cite news | title=Police, fire department at loggerheads over marine safety| url=http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Police-fire-department-at-loggerheads-over-1123019.php#page-2| access-date=5 August 2015| work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer| date=29 August 2003}}{{cite web | title=SFD History| url=http://www.lastresortfd.org/SFD_History.htm| website=lastresortfd.org| publisher=Last Resort Fire Department Museum| access-date=5 August 2015}} On one occasion, in 2003, an engine problem left the vessel dead in the water and the ship was only able to move by firing its legendarily powerful water cannons.

Procurement of a modern fireboat to replace Alki was part of a successful public safety levy enacted by Seattle voters in 2003 approving its construction.{{cite web| title=About the Fireboat| url=http://www.seattle.gov/fleetsfacilities/firelevy/facilities/marine/marine.htm| website=seattle.gov| publisher=City of Seattle| access-date=5 August 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115000/http://www.seattle.gov/fleetsfacilities/firelevy/facilities/marine/marine.htm| archive-date=24 September 2015| url-status=dead}} Leschi was built at a cost of $12 million by Dakota Creek Industries of Anacortes, Washington, from a design by Jensen Marine Consultants.

The Seattle Fire Department took delivery of the vessel in 2007 during a commissioning ceremony attended by mayor Greg Nickels. The ship sponsor was Nickels' wife, Sharon. The name, Leschi, had been suggested by Kadi Camara, a Seattle elementary school student, as part of a naming competition held by the city. It was meant to honor a former Nisqually chief. Camara got to ride on the ship as a prize.{{cite news | last1=Sullivan| first1=Jennifer| title=Seattle's new fireboat makes a splash| url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattles-new-fireboat-makes-a-splash/| access-date=5 August 2015| work=Seattle Times| date=17 April 2007}} Following the commissioning of Leschi, Alki was retired.{{cite news | title=Seattle christens new fireboat| url=http://www.komonews.com/news/local/7070902.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006132534/http://www.komonews.com/news/local/7070902.html|archive-date=6 October 2015 |access-date=5 August 2015| work=KOMO-TV| issue=17 April 2007}} Leschi is berthed on Elliott Bay where it is the primary response vehicle for maritime fires on the city's outer shoreline.{{cite news| title=Fireboat Business Heats Up in the Northwest| url=http://www.pacmar.com/story/2014/09/01/features/fireboat-business-heats-up-in-the-northwest/278.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225143710/http://www.pacmar.com/story/2014/09/01/features/fireboat-business-heats-up-in-the-northwest/278.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 25, 2015| access-date=5 August 2014| work=Pacific Maritime Magazine| date=1 September 2014}}

File:Fireboats moored in Seattle -b.jpg

Design and specifications

Described as the "dreadnought of Seattle's fireboat fleet," Leschi is one of three fireboats currently operated by the Seattle Fire Department (SFD), the others being Chief Seattle and Marine One. The {{convert|108|foot|adj=on}} Leschi is powered by twin diesel engines rated at {{convert|1550|hp|lk=in}}, turning {{convert|72|inch|adj=on}} four-blade propellers, which give the ship a flank speed of {{convert|14|kn}}. Two additional engines, rated at {{convert|1440|hp}}, power the ship's four water pumps. Unlike its predecessor, Alki, Leschi has touchscreen consoles for bridge command controls instead of manual "knobs and levers". By displacement and pump capacity, it is the largest of ten municipal-owned fireboats that support the U.S. Coast Guard's regional marine firefighting plan for Puget Sound.{{cite book | title=Sector Puget Sound Marine Firefighting Plan| date=2014| publisher=U.S. Coast Guard}}

Mission and capabilities

According to Professional Mariner, Leschi{{'}}s mission is "firefighting, mobile platform for emergency medical treatment and command center, mobile pump and fuel station, and response to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) emergencies."

File:Kevin_Dumont_and_Fireboat_Leschi_01.jpg

The ship's principal fire suppression equipment comes in the form of four {{convert|5,000 |gal|adj=on}} per-minute water pumps. In addition to pumping water, the ship's firefighting apparatus can tap an integrated {{convert|6,000|gal|adj=on}} foam tank for use against chemical-fueled fires.{{cite news | last1=Warren| first1=Brad| title=Leschi: Pumped Up and Ready for Anything: The Dreadnought of Seattle's Fireboat Fleet| url=http://www.professionalmariner.com/December-January-2008/Leschi-Pumped-up-and-ready-for-anything-the-dreadnought-of-Seattles-fireboat-fleet/| access-date=5 August 2015| work=Professional Mariner| date=9 January 2008}} Leschi also has a {{convert|55|foot|adj=on}} telescoping crane with ladder and fire line for use against container ship fires and the ship is able to douse itself with a cooling fog to allow for operation directly adjacent to a major fire.

In addition to marine firefighting, Leschi can support land-based firefighters in the event of a disaster that destroys Seattle's water mains. Manifolds on Leschi{{'}}s deck provide ports through which hose lines can be run to provide fire engines with direct access to seawater.

Leschi is designed to operate with a complement of four personnel, but has a command and communications room for use by senior SFD officers in the event of a catastrophe that renders land facilities unusable. The ship is outfitted with a CBRN defense system for crew protection in the event of a nuclear or chemical weapons attack against Seattle, or similar disaster. When activated, the system automatically seals pressurized hatches to the bridge and command center; uncontaminated air is provided by a fan and filter system.

The ship is regularly equipped with a rigid-hulled inflatable boat that can be launched from the ship's stern. A thermal imaging camera system allows the ship's crew to locate distressed persons in the water (such as in a man overboard emergency) at night or during other low-visibility conditions.{{cite web | title=108' x 27' Fireboat| url=http://www.jensenmaritime.com/content/download/17089/114780/file/108%27%20x%2027%27%20Fireboat.pdf| website=jensenmaritime.com| publisher=Jensen Maritime| access-date=6 August 2015}}

References

External links

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNFfNe_rf4s video of Leschi with USS Howard]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax9Oh64C8_c video of Leschi leaving dock]

Category:2007 ships

Category:Fireboats in Seattle, Washington

Category:Ships built in Washington (state)