London Fire Brigade has 2 fire boats, the Fire Dart and Fire Flash. They are moored at Lambeth river station and are used for a variety of incidents, such as people stranded in the River Thames, fires on boats, crashed boats, and riverside property on fire.
What is a Fire Boat....basically A fire engine on the water. LFB's current fire boats were specially built for them. They are a class of boat called a ‘Wave Patroller’, and each has a slightly different specification.
Fire Dart and Fire Flash are both fast twin-engined, single-hulled landing crafts. They have been designed with shallow draft – a flat bottom – for use on rivers and inland waterways. Both have a reinforced keel, so they can ‘beach’ the boats on the Thameside and lower the access ramp without harm.
Fire boat statistics:
The fire boats launched 147 times in 2017, though it varies from year to year. One of the most famous fire boats – the retired Massey Shaw – is credited with saving over 500 lives as one of the ‘little ships’ fleet at Dunkirk. Like their current fire boats, she has a relatively flat hull so was able to get closer to the shore.
This meant many soldiers could wade out and climb aboard, to be ferried to the larger ships. She was the only boat in the fleet to make three trips to the beaches, and was crewed by firefighters who volunteered for the dangerous rescue mission.
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