By David Hench
Portland Press Herald
PORTLAND, Maine — A Nova Scotia shipyard is putting the finishing touches on Portland’s new fireboat, scheduled for delivery this spring.
The new boat will integrate emergency medical services and fire suppression in a vessel that is faster and more technologically advanced than the city’s old boat, the 50-year-old City of Portland.
The new 65-foot boat is being purchased at a cost of $3.5 million, with $1 million of the total coming from the federal government.
The boat is a key lifeline to the city’s islands, and that influenced its design.
''What we’re shooting for is a boat that will allow us to get emergency medicine and suppression to the residents faster than we do now,’' said Portland Fire Chief Fred LaMontagne. ''The new vessel will better help us meet the needs of the island communities and the harbor itself.’'
For island residents, getting rapid medical care is essential.
''The quality of the care dispensed by paramedics and (emergency medical technicians) out here has been very fine,’' said Mike Langella, a member of the Peaks Island Council’s public safety committee. ''Of course, people on the island know they live on an island, but they are concerned about having the most efficient service possible.
''If this means the paramedics responding to a call have a better facility to provide that service, that’s great,’' he said.
Langella also said the new boat will give the city the ability to respond to multiple emergencies.
LaMontagne said he does not know the top speed for the new boat, and that it would vary depending on ocean conditions. The city is focusing on emergency medicine delivery with the new boat.
The boat will house a complete emergency medical treatment station, in essence an ambulance on board. The station will be laid out precisely like a Medcu unit, so paramedics working on a patient will know where supplies are located and gurneys will move easily from the boat to a vehicle.
The city currently relies on the 44-foot Cavallaro to function as its faster rescue boat. The city will probably keep the Cavallaro even after the new boat is delivered, in case of multiple emergencies and as a backup if the new boat needs repairs.
The fate of the City of Portland is uncertain, the chief said.
Portland officials had coveted a larger boat with more robust firefighting capability, but the price tag was just too high.
And the waterfront has changed. Where once the city’s waterfront was a thriving cargo port with a high potential for fire danger, the seaside developments now are much more modest, with maritime services splitting space with restaurants and other tourist destinations. The island communities have grown in that time as well and require a faster response, LaMontagne said.
The fireboat remains an essential part of the city’s fire suppression operation for shoreside fires and those on ships, and would be called into service in an emergency at the South Portland tank farms, though ground-based fire crews would play a major role in the response.
South Portland Fire Chief Kevin Guimond said the harbor has 156 fuel storage tanks, all on the South Portland side, and his city has beefed up its foam firefighting capability as a result.
''We plan for handling two tanks at once,’' he said. ''Really our concern is if they get struck by lightning. That’s one of the most dangerous scenarios,’' Guimond said.
The new boat will have the latest technology. For example, it will be steered with a joystick instead of a large brass steering wheel. It also will meet modern emissions standards. The new boat will have greater capacity for delivering foam for deep-seated fires, such as those that burrow into dock pilings, LaMontagne said. And it will be more maneuverable, making it easier to direct water to a fire while staying in place alongside a pier or boat without colliding.
The boat is being built in Canada because, despite Maine’s shipbuilding heritage, when the city sought bids on the fireboat, no yards in New England participated.
The vessel is being built in Nova Scotia at the A.F. Theriault & Sons shipyard. Once completed, it will undergo sea trials, and then be piloted from the Canadian province across the Bay of Fundy to Portland in April or early May, LaMontagne said.
Typically, only major ports can afford fireboats and Portland is lucky to have one, LaMontagne said.
''It’s a recognition of what this port draws in fuel and cargo and what we protect in terms of economic sustainability in the region,’' he said.