Seattle's first fireboat, and the first of it's kind on the Pacific Coast, was the fireboat Snoqualmie built a year after the June 6, 1889 Great Seattle Fire. The wood-hulled Snoqualmie, known as Engine 5 and moored at the current site of Fire Station 5 on Seattle's waterfront, was 90 feet in length with a pumping capacity of 5,765 gallons-per-minute. She went into service January 3, 1891. A little known fact is that the Seattle Fire Department's first on-duty firefighter fatality was a crewmember of the Snoqualmie who was fatally injured during a training session.
By the early 1900s, Seattle's waterfront was booming. Port traffic was rapidly increasing, especially after the 1897 Alaska Gold Rush made Seattle "The Gateway To Alaska". It was becoming evident that a second fireboat was needed.
In 1909, the fireboat Duwamish was commissioned. Accepted by the city in 1910, the Duwamish then went into service as Engine 5. That same year the fireboat Snoqualmie received an extensive rebuild, and upon returning to service, it was designated Engine 31. The Snoqualmie served the City of Seattle for 44 years until it's retirement on September 25, 1935, a victim of the Great Depression.
The fireboat Duwamish was built by the Richmond Beach Shipbuilding Company, north of Seattle, with a steel-riveted hull 120 feet in length and a beam of 28 feet. She was originally steam-powered and could reach a speed of 10½ knots. The steam boilers also powered steam pumps capable of pumping 9,000 gallons-per-minute. It was said that the Duwamish was not built for speed, but as a firefighting battleship. One interesting feature of her original hull was her "battering ram" bow. Vessels of that year were mostly wooden hulled. If the Duwamish could not extinguish a fire aboard these vessels, she would ram them causing them to sink.
The Duwamish got its first baptism under fire when, on July 30, 1914, the Grand Trunk Dock adjacent to Fire Station 5 caught fire. This was the first General Alarm fire in Seattle's history and all 200 on-duty firefighters plus 127 off-duty firefighters, along with aerial ladders, hose wagons, twelve fire engines and the fireboats Duwamish and Snoqualmie were dispatched.
Together the boats delivered more than 15,000 gallons-per-minute on a fire that refused to go out. By the time the fire was finally extinguished, six people died including the driver of Hose Wagon #5 which fell through the pier decking into the water below, never to be recovered.
In 1949 the Duwamish was given a major overhaul. The hull was stream-lined, doing away with the battering ram bow, and her steam propulsion and pump systems were replaced by diesel electric engines and pumps which boosted her pumping capacity to 22,800 gallons-per-minute, giving the Duwamish the claim of the world's most powerful fireboat. The Duwamish answered its last alarm on September 8, 1984. Today it is being restored and maintained by The Shipping & Railway Heritage Trust organization.
Seattle's third fireboat is the Alki built in Oakland, Calif. in 1927. Like the Duwamish, the Alki was also built as a firefighting battleship. Built of steel and gasoline-powered, the 123½ ft. Alki initially had a pumping capacity of 12,000 gallons-per-minute. Rebuilt in 1947, the gasoline engines were replaced with diesel propulsion and pump engines, and the pumping capacity was increased to its current 16,200 gallons-per-minute.
In the event of a major disaster, the Alki with its more than 16,000 gallons-per-minute pumping capacity, can easily provide fresh water to the city's seven hilltop reservoirs. The reservoirs in turn can provide water for fire service operations and, if chlorinated, for continued supplies of potable water for domestic use. The Alki is also designed as a floating fuel point to re-supply land-based emergency apparatus - it carries more than 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Today, after almost 80 years since it's commissioning, the Alki still proudly serves the City of Seattle, although now in a reserve role.
Until 1928, fireboats Snoqualmie and Duwamish were moored at Fire Station 5, at the foot of Madison Street. When the Alki was in service, it became Engine 5, and the Duwamish became Engine 31, moored at Station 31 on Harbor Island. The Snoqualmie then became Engine 39, stationed in Lake Union until it's retirement in 1935. Due to a lack of manpower during the war years, on March 24, 1943, the Duwamish was placed in reserve status at its Harbor Island station. Arrangements were made with the U.S. Coast Guard to man the boat, and so - about one week later - the Duwamish was back in service, although now known as Boat 2.
Seattle's first three fireboats were built during a time of wooden vessels, wooden piers, lumber mills and yards, cedar shake factories, and wood-framed buildings containing unprotected flammable materials, where the need for large volumes of water for extinguishment outweighed the need for speed. The Snoqualmie, Duwamish and Alki generally didn't have far to respond to a fire, but when they got to the fire, their large pumping capacity often made the difference between saving the vessel or building, or preventing extension of the fire to adjacent buildings.
By 1980, many changes were occurring along Seattle's waterfront. Heavily creosoted pilings and timbers were being replaced with concrete; sprinkler systems were being installed and the old fire-breeding structures were being replaced with fire-resistive structures. The role of the fireboat in Seattle was changing and expanding.
1930
1980With over 153 miles of waterfront to protect, plus a growing commitment to neighboring communities, Seattle recognized the need for a new breed of fireboat, one that not only provided a stable platform from which to work while still capable of a large pumping capacity, but one with greater speed as well.
On August 17,1984, the fireboat Chief Seattle was christened. Built by Nichols Brothers Inc. on Whidbey Island north of Seattle, the 96 ft. aluminum-hulled Chief Seattle has a pumping capacity of 7,500 gallons-per-minute and a speed of 26 knots (about 30 MPH.)
The fireboat Chief Seattle is state-of-the-art. In addition to the normal array of firefighting equipment, the "Chief" carries 800 gallons of foam concentrate, 3,500 feet of containment boom, portable pumps and de-watering devices. Equipped with an Emergency Medical Services treatment room, the fireboat Chief Seattle can, in addition to fighting fires, respond to the aid of the injured or to those suffering from hypothermia. When required, she can respond with the addition of Paramedics to aid in immediate patient care, or to rendezvous with vessels requiring aid. Combine this with the boat's array of marine communications equipment, GPS and radar, and there exists a Seattle Fire Department capability of a fully independent, floating command post for use during major disasters.
Seattle's fireboats are postured on the 70-mile salt-water side of the city for immediate support of the large commercial vessels and for fire protection primarily in the downtown waterfront area.
The Department's boats also respond to marine fires outside Seattle's incorporated city limits when requested through mutual aid or by the U.S. Coast Guard. They work very closely with the U.S. Coast Guard to assist with persons in the water, Search & Rescue missions, vessels in distress, downed aircraft, police-related activities, collisions at sea, oil spill responses and special event patrols such as Ivar's fireworks display, the annual tugboat races and the Seafair Hydroplane races, among others.
Competing daily for space on Elliott Bay and the surrounding waters are large numbers of cargo vessels entering, exiting, and sailing past Seattle's port, heavily populated passenger ferries often with over 3,000 passengers, and an increasing number of tourist and passenger vessels such as cruise ships and dinner boats. Additionally, Seattle continues to live up to its reputation as having one of the largest sports and pleasure boat populations as well as a very large commercial fishing fleet.
Many thanks to Bob Burtch, retired fireboat pilot, and current RFFOW Secretary, who allowed us to convert a PowerPoint presentation that he wrote and compiled in 2001 for use on the RFFOW website.
If you still haven't gotten enough fireboat photos and history, please visit
The Puget Sound Fireboat Foundation's website.
You can also find an excellent collection of fireboat photographs on
Seattle Fire Department's website.
