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10 June 2002A fireboat gets a new lease on life by Sara Clemence
But when a group of water-loving New Yorkers saved the fireboat John J. Harvey from the scrap heap, they got more than just a plaything. "We didn't have any idea it was going to be anything other than a restoration," says John Doswell, 59, one of the 17 owners of the Harvey. Instead, the historic floating fire engine has become a passion and a landmark, creating a community all its own. And on Sept. 11, the Harvey was called back to the work it once did best. Seventy years ago, fireboats ruled New York's waterfront. Patrolling the city's nearly 600 miles of shoreline, they answered calls in the active city commercial port, extinguishing fierce dock fires, managing oil spills and staging boat rescues. But when the waterfront businesses declined, so did the need for fireboats. Today, fireboats in New York City are rarely spotted, their numbers having dwindled from more than a dozen to a mere three active ships. Other port cities report the same: San Francisco now has but two fireboats, and New Orleans no longer has any. The Harvey, a 130-foot, 268-ton fireboat, was a revelation when it was put into service in 1931. The fireboat was the most powerful of its time, and the first to be built with an internal combustion engine rather than a steam engine. It could pump water over the roadway of the George Washington Bridge. The ship served the city well for decades. But the city started to downsize its fleet in the 1960s, in response to a declining waterfront, according to Al Trojanowicz, a retired fire fighter and fireboat historian. Rather than ship bags of flour and barrels of food in pieces, shipping containers became the prominent mode of transport. The huge, fire-resistant metal boxes could be lifted directly by crane onto railway cars or truck beds, which required a lot of space. Shipping moved to New Jersey, and the city's piers and warehouses were rendered obsolete. In 1991, the city decommissioned the Harvey, leaving just three primary fireboats, the John D. McKean, the Harry M. Archer, M.D., and the Fire Fighter. The Harvey sat decaying in the water at the Brooklyn Navy Yard until 1999, when the city sold the boat in a sealed-bid auction. John Krevey, a lover of historic ships who operates a floating pier on Manhattan's West Side, gathered a group of bidders together, offering $28,010 for a ship that cost more than $500,000 to build. "The second highest bid was the scrap yard," says Doswell. "So she'd be Toyotas by now." The 17 owners, who range from a software engineer based in Dublin, Ireland, to a retired New York City fire fighter, hired a tugboat to move the Harvey to its new home at Krevey's Pier 63 on West 23rd Street in Manhattan. The Fire Department had stripped the boat of its insignia and gear, nameplates and all. But not long into the restoration, the Marine Division offered to send it all back. "When they realized we were doing the right thing," recalls co-owner Huntley Gill, "They said, 'Bring a truck.'" After three years of work and "a couple hundred thousand dollars, all told," says Gill, the boat is mostly in working order. "We didn't realize that we had bought one of the most complex engine rooms in New York." The restoration has attracted a diverse following, from Pennsylvania firefighters to local businessmen. Now, the dozens of volunteers will focus on the boat's appearance, stripping, painting and even riveting. Due to strict U.S. Coast Guard regulations, the Harvey can't carry paying passengers, but can be used for parties or events. The owners frequently take groups out for free rides, and accept donations to maintain the vessel. In 2000, the boat made it on to the National Register of Historic Places, and it has a web site, www.fireboat.org. On Sept. 11, the Harvey showed that, even at 70, it could be of use to the city. That Tuesday morning, Gill, two other owners and a couple of volunteers rushed to the boat and headed south to help the Coast Guard evacuate people from the financial district. They could see the World Trade Center burning as they powered down the river. While en route, they watched the towers fall. The Harvey took a load of about 150 people from Battery Park City, right next to the World Trade Center, to Pier 40, a mile north. Then the Fire Department radioed to say that all the water sources around the World Trade Center had been knocked out. They needed the Harvey to do what it was designed to do: pump water from the river to the fire. For three days, 24 hours a day, the fireboat worked alongside its FDNY sister ships, and became a haven for firemen when they came off the pile. Some firefighters recall throwing their coats down on the deck and collapsing on top of them for a few hours' sleep. Back at Pier 63, the Harvey is just another retired boat, but with another episode to add to its proud past. Now its owners are hoping for a long future. "If we're lucky," says Gill, "she'll be around and running for another 20 years." Read original article (if still published) Read more articles... | | |
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Eric Weisler
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