Firefighters break in new boat

The throngs of boaters cruising the waters of Lake Havasu near the Nautical Inn Friday afternoon probably couldn't help noticing a shiny aluminum boat shooting water high in the air from two red cannons.

Any entertainment value provided by the city's new fire boat is completely unintentional. Its sole mission is to respond to emergencies on the lake and its shoreline, keeping people and the environment safe.

"We respond to just about any 911 call on the lake, including hazardous materials," said fire Capt. Jasen Stello, who led a crew composed of firefighters Ryan Felish, Jason Lawson and Jason Macklem on Friday's run.

The boat is on the job from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday and during special events. All the department's firefighters are trained to operate the boat so it can be quick to respond when not on duty from its headquarters at Site Six's Fire Station 8 or from its weekday dry dock at Contact Point.

In addition to fires and medical emergencies on the lake, the boat can fight fires on the shoreline or connect to fire engines and supply water where hydrants aren't available.

Stello estimates the crew responds to one or two fires on an average holiday weekend.

"For this boat, it's not the number of runs, it's the type of runs (that makes it unique)," he said.

Calls are generally for multiple assists, and unlike responders on shore, more units can't be called in if the situation gets worse.

The boat's typical medical emergency involves between six and 15 patients, Stello said. Injured people can be brought aboard via a landing craft-style ramp that lowers it to the water.

The most seriously injured are brought aboard by firefighters who perform swim rescue. The beauty of the ramp is that patients who are able to help themselves can board the boat on their own, Stello said.

The ramp also allows firefighters to transport off-road vehicles to the California side to perform technical rescues in areas not accessible by road, he said.

The boat can accommodate three critically injured patients and nine "walking wounded" at one time. That's three times the capacity of the old fire boat, a 24-foot fiberglass powerboat that was not designed specifically as a fire boat.

Of course, the boat's most impressive features are its two water cannons, which can shoot water pumped from the lake more than 200 feet.

"We take water out of the lake and put it right back into the lake," Stello said.

Two gasoline-powered pumps supply 1,100 gallons of water per minute, about 50 percent more than the department's old fire boat, which had only one pump.

The boat services a region from Parker Dam to Topock Bridge, but spends most of its time in and around Thompson Bay.

"We really can't take this boat through the Channel because it puts out a pretty big wake and causes problems," Stello said.

The boat will enter the Channel in the case of a fire or other emergency that responders on shore can't reach, he said.

The boat maintains communication with area law enforcement agencies on both sides of the lake. At night, however, the crew is pretty much on its own, Stello said.

"The biggest thing for us is, a lot of people like to take their boats out after dark. We're the only paramedics that will respond to that," he said.

Boaters running into the shoreline at night are a problem.

"People need to understand the marker lights that are on the lake here. You can run on the lake with no lights if you understand the marker lights," he said. "Of course, alcohol plays a factor in that, too."

Stello said a department committee spent five years working out the design of the boat, which was custom-built by Munson Boats, a Seattle-area boat builder that specializes in fire and police vessels.

The $224,000 cost of the boat was funded by an Arizona state lake improvement fund grant awarded to LHCFD in exchange for providing emergency services on Lake Havasu.

You may contact the reporter at dparker@havasunews.com.