(VALLEJO, Calif.) — Moose Boats recently delivered the most powerful M2-38 fireboat ever assembled to the Alameda Fire Department (AFD) in Alameda County, Calif.
The fire department provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Alameda, nicknamed “The Island City,” which is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. AFD is part of the Alameda County Mutual Aid System in addition to working with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Among the four Type-1 engines, two ladder trucks, four ALS ambulances and one CARE unit, AFD cross staffs its fireboat with a rescue unit, two water tenders, a dive team and an OES Type-1 engine company.
Alameda Fire Department’s new Moose M2-38 catamaran is powered by twin Cummins turbocharged QSB 6.7L 480-hp engines with Twin Disc transmissions and HamiltonJet HJX 29 waterjets.
The build contains two Darley 2,000-gpm fire pumps powered by PTO systems that enable full control at the helm while flowing close to 5,000 gpm. This amount of water is usually only seen in the 50-foot or larger vessel class. With this pumping capacity, AFD has significantly increased its emergency water supply and fire suppression capabilities for Alameda.
Overall vessel speed is up to 38 knots with a cruise speed of 30 knots. The catamaran design allows for optimal maneuvering with lateral crawl to port and to starboard with absolute stability. Included in the design is an extended cab for water rescue and dive team equipment and a separate navigational/comms station located behind the helm.
On the port side, there is ample storage with an 8-foot-long patient bench. Instruments include four Raymarine 12-inch MFD screens with chart plotter/radar overlay, FLIR reverse image camera, Icom VHF radios, Motorola radios and Auto-Maskin engine displays.
For night time operations, the vessel is equipped with 13 20-inch Rigid light bars casting over 15,000 lumens per light.
“This build was a real challenge, and couldn’t have been accomplished without great support from our vendors,” said Moose General Manager Steve Dirkes. “Robert Bowe at Cummins really helped us through the whole build, and brought Auto-Maskin, MER Equipment and American Vulkan to the table to help get this powerful firefighting system approved by all parties.”
Task Force Tips provided four monitors and 10 handline outlets to complement two 4.5-inch threaded discharges and two 5-inch Storz discharges for large diameter hoses.
– Moose Boats
