Fighting fires on land and the sea

by Alice Mungyu, co-feature editor

Students from different extracurricular activities had the opportunity to step onto the Marine One, a fireboat designed with pumps and nozzles that specialize in fighting shoreline and shipboard fires.

Three Forty Three provides the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) with the latest technology available for Marine vessels, including the capability of pumping 50,000 gallons of water per minute; nearly 30,000 gallons more than its predecessor. The city has 560 miles of waterfront and has long been one of the busiest ports in the world.

“Watching the engineer of the fireboat 343 activating the hoses was incredible to watch but the thought of getting hit by 25,000 gallons of water is intimidating,” senior Jason Chen said.

The vessel features a forward ballast tank which lowers the boat in the water to match its deck with larger ferries that operate in the waters around New York City. This feature allows the fireboat to safely transfer and evacuate people in an emergency. In addition, the Three Forty Three has a command and control area where the ship’s officers will be able to monitor and direct fire operations with the aid of remote cameras and state-of-the-art communication equipment.
“We cruised around Manhattan and it was really cool to see all the major landmarks such as the Freedom Tower, statue of Liberty. It was a beautiful day and very relaxing,” senior Anisa Bridgelal said.