Fireboats in San Diego have been operated on

San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U.S.–Mexico border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of c ...

by the city of

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

since the early 20th century, as well as by the

Port of San Diego The Port of San Diego is a seaport in San Diego, California. It is located on San Diego Bay in southwestern San Diego County, California, and is a self-supporting district established in 1962 by an act of the California State Legislature. In add ...

since its creation as a quasi-governmental agency serving the entire Bay in 1962.

City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department

The city's first

fireboat A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipmen ...

, the ''Bill Kettner'', was named after San Diego's Congressional Representative

William Kettner William "Bill" Kettner (November 20, 1864 – November 11, 1930) was a US Democratic politician from San Diego, California. He served four terms in Congress from 1913 through 1921 and is credited with bringing many U.S. Navy facilities to ...

. The vessel was built by the city's own firefighters in their own workshop. She was commissioned in 1919. The ''Point Loma II'', a small patrol vessel with a modest pumping capacity, served from 1957 to 1977. She had a single water cannon, only capable of pumping 1,200 gallons per hour. The ''Bill Kettner'' was retired in 1961, when she was replaced by the ''Shelter Island''. The ''Shelter Island'' had two water cannon, capable of pumping 2,000 gallons per minute and 1,000 gallons per minute. A third vessel, the ''Harbor Island'', was also put into service. She had a single water cannon, capable of pumping 2000 gallons per minute. The Shelter Island and

Harbor Island Harbor Island is an artificial island in the mouth of the Duwamish River in Seattle, Washington, US, where it empties into Elliott Bay. Built by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, it was completed in 1909 and was then the largest art ...

are named after "islands" (actually peninsulas) in the San Diego Bay. On June 26, 2015, a new high speed vessel christened the ''Marine 3'' began operation by the San Diego Lifeguard Department. San Diego Lifeguard Services is a unit of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The vessel is equipped for both

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

and firefighting duties. It is equipped with infrared and other sensors, for helping to find missing sailors and lost boats. The two water cannon, each capable of pumping 12,000 gallons per minute, can be remotely controlled from the cabin. The lifeguard department's previous rescue and fire vessel had just a single water cannon, capable of pumping only 500 gallons per minute. The vessel cost $1 million, and its projected life is 25 years.

San Diego Harbor Police

The San Diego Harbor Police is the law enforcement authority for the

. It provides uniformed police services as well as marine firefighting. The department has an area of responsibility that includes the

shorelines of the cities of San Diego, National City,

Chula Vista Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popul ...

Imperial Beach Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

, and

Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) * Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred to simply as "Coronado" * Coronado Chávez (1807–1881), President of Honduras from 1845 to 1847 Places United ...

. Harbor Police officers are cross-trained in law enforcement and firefighting. On November 22, 2010, the city accepted two new fireboats, to be operated by the San Diego Harbor Police, that were paid for by a port security grant from the federal

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

. The two new vessels each have three water cannon. They replaced three older and less capable vessels, that had been in service for 35 years. In 2011 the City of San Diego agreed to accept three more vessels, under another grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The five identical vessels are MetalCraft FireStorm 36 fireboats and are capable of approximately 2,200 gallons per minute.

References

{{Fleets of fireboats by city or body of water *San Diego Government of San Diego San Diego Bay