State and local officials are slated to gather at 11 a.m. today on the grounds of Fort McHenry with family members of the late John R. "Jack" Frazier, to christen the Baltimore City Fire Department's newest fireboat, named after the longtime bureau commander and legislative liaison who died this year.
The 87-foot vessel, whose top speed is 16 knots, was built at a cost of $6.7 million at Hike Metal Products Ltd. in Wheatley, Ontario, which specializes in building fireboats, patrol boats, tugs and research vessels.
After completing its sea trials in May, the John R. Frazier left the company's Lake Erie shipyard June 2 for a weeklong voyage to Baltimore.
While passing through New York's harbor, the vessel saluted the Statue of Liberty with its four water nozzles, called monitors, as it slowly steamed by.
The vessel arrived June 9 at the Fire Department's marine division headquarters on Leahy Street, near Fort McHenry.
Designated a "regional response watercraft," it was purchased with funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and in addition to protecting the Baltimore waterfront, it will serve Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties, and Annapolis.
The Frazier replaces the fireboat Mayor J. Harold Grady, which was retired after 46 years of service. The Mayor Thomas J. D'Alesandro Jr., officially Fireboat 2, will serve as a backup to the Frazier.
Built by the R.T.C. Shipbuilding Corp. of Camden, N.J., the D'Alesandro entered service after being commissioned in 1956.
Called the Tommy by crew members, the fireboat has been stationed at Fort McHenry, as well as at now-closed stations in Fells Point, President Street, Curtis Bay, Canton, Wagners Point and Colgate Creek.
Baltimore is one of a handful of U.S. cities, including New York and Boston, that still maintain a fleet of fireboats with full-time crews.
The marine division goes back to 1870 when John W. Watkins, chief engineer, recommended to the Board of Fire Commissioners that it contemplate purchasing a large tug with a powerful steam engine that was capable of carrying at least 2,000 feet of hose.
Twenty more years of waterfront fires would occur before an ordinance passed in 1890 allocating $35,000 for the establishment of a fireboat company and an appropriate vessel. The company, designated as Engine Company 16, was established with a dozen firefighters.
