Mary Firstenburg (fireboat)
The Mary Firstenburg is a fireboat operated by Clark County Fire & Rescue.[1] She was commissioned on March 16, 2014. She purchased through a FEMA Port Security Grant.
Clark County, Washington received $370,000 to help pay for the 30 feet (9.1 m) vessel.[2] She replaces a smaller 19 feet (5.8 m) vessel. She is capable of pumping up to 2,000 gallons per minute. She is equipped with side-view sonar and an infrared optical system. Her maximum speed is 40 knots (74 km/h).[3]
Her infrared system is useful for the fireboat to undertake search and rescue missions, to find survivors heat signatures, in addition to guiding the vessel's water cannons to the hottest burning parts of a fire.[3]
Although the vessel, and her boathouse, were paid for through Federal grants, she was named after Mary Elizabeth Firstenburg, a local philanthropist, in recognition of previous donations to the region's non-profit enterprises.[1][2][4]
References[edit]
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Patty Hastings (2014-03-14). "Clark County Fire & Rescue launches new fireboat: Family gets ride on boat bearing name 'Mary Firstenburg'". The Columbian. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
Bruce Firstenburg, 71, broke a bottle of champagne over Clark County Fire & Rescue's new rescue boat Friday afternoon in the Ridgefield Marina.
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Steve Kadell (2014-03-19). "Clark County Fire & Rescue christens new boat: Boat purchased entirely with Federal Emergency Management Agency funds". The Reflector. Archived from the original on 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
Bruce Firstenberg, son of former community benefactor E. W. Firstenberg and his wife Mary, swung a champagne bottle at the hull and the resounding crack was greeted with applause. Just like that, the $370,000 boat purchased entirely with Federal Emergency Management Agency money through the Homeland Security program, was officially ready for business.
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Brian Guavin (2014-07-31). "Small Sounder-model fireboat boasts big water capacity, speed". Professional Mariner. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
The boat is a 30-foot Sounder model from North River Boats, a bustling operation in the unlikely inland location of Roseburg, Ore. Length from push bar on the bow to crash bar on the stern is 37 feet.
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"Mary Firstenburg: Featured". Daily Columbian. 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
She and her husband made significant charitable gifts to local nonprofits in SW Washington over the past 20 years. The Firstenburg Community Center, The Firstenburg Fountain and Firstenburg Student Commons at Washington State University Vancouver and E.W. and Mary Firstenburg Tower at Southwest Washington Medical Center were named after the couple in thanks for their generosity. In 2008, Innovative Services Northwest named their new headquarters the Mary Firstenburg Family Center.