The 127.5 foot long fireboat Alki, recently seen on Elliott Bay, was built in Oakland, CA in 1927 and rebuilt in 1947, converting her from gasoline to diesel powered propulsion and pump engines, and increasing her pumping capacity from 12,000 to 16,200 gallons per minute. She was Seattle's third fireboat, taking her place alongside the Snoqualmie and the Duwamish in the waterfront city's firefighting history.
The Snoqualmie was retired in 1934, and the Duwamish continued answering alarms until 1984 when the Chief Seattle was christened, entering a era where speed - about 24 knots vs. the Alki's 12 - was as important as pumping capacity.
Now in a reserve role, after nearly 80 years of navigating fires (and politics), the Alki still has over twice Chief Seattle's pumping capacity of 7,500 GPM. In the event of a disaster, she's capable of pumping fresh water to the city's hilltop reservoirs for firefighting and treated potable water.
In the next few years two new boats, the Leschi and Engine 1 will join the fleet, Chief Seattle will go through renovation, and the Alki, after 8 decades of service, will put her pumps into retirement (only semi-, we hope).
Wonderful shot; good to have the background information. (Now I have the answer to the question that kept coming up: just what kind of boat is that?)
Posted by: BobM | July 29, 2006 at 08:03 AM