By Kate Moran
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2007 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
Jefferson Parish plans to expand its fleet of rescue boats before the upcoming hurricane season and to train firefighters to maneuver the flat-bottomed vessels to reach victims stranded in floods.
Deano Bonano, the Jefferson emergency management czar, said the administration is buying 21 boats and will distribute them among 19 fire departments so the skiffs are available for disasters in all corners of the parish.
“This is all the result of lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. We realized we have to upgrade our capacity,” Bonano said.
The boats come courtesy of a $510,000 federal homeland security grant. They are designed to navigate shallow waters and will be rigged with propeller guards to protect from floating debris.
The skiffs also will have steps to make it easier for victims to board, and Bonano said the administration is developing special ladders that might be attached to the vessels.
Throughout the spring and summer, the administration and the U.S. Coast Guard will coach firefighters how to use the flat-bottomed boats, which will be 18 feet long and come with a 90-horsepower engines.
Bonano said he hopes police and emergency medical technicians eventually can be trained to operate the boats as well.
“We need to have all the agencies represented in our rescue efforts,” he said.
The Parish Council awarded a contract for the boats Dec. 13 to Metro Boating of Harvey. Bonano said the East Bank Consolidated Fire Department, the parish’s largest, will receive three boats, while other departments will get one each.