Even though Chicago Engine 2, the fireboat Christopher Wheatley was dedicated and entered into service last month, the addition has just been made to the website listing it with 6-8-8 and Engine 58 (OOS) at the Chicago Marine Safety Station at 250 N. Breakwater Access.
May 28
From atop a downtown high-rise, Dan McInerney submitted an interesting image showing Engine 2, the new fire boat, docked outside the marine headquarters. Behind Engine 2, Engine 58 is visible as is a small Coast Guard vessle leaving to go on patrol.
Chicago Engine 2 moored at their new quarters with the Chicago Marine Unit and the local Coast Guard unit. Dan McInerney photo
Dan McInerney found several links which offer images and information about the current and past Chicago fire boats.
Here are some websites that have some info on CFD’s former boat fleet.Pictures of current/former boats:Info and location of the Joseph Medill:The Medill can be seen on Google Maps Street View at the corner of 1st Ave and 6th street in Escanba, MI. (682 1st Avenue North, Escanaba, MI)And the Fred Busse:
Snapshot of the Door County Fireboat Cruises website featuring the Fred Busse.
Satellite view from Google Maps of the Fred L. Schlaeger docked at the water filtration plant.
Dan Jasina from Michigan found another article on the new fire boat with photos and a video. The entire article can be found HERE with excerpts below:
The vessel represents more than a year of work for Hike Metal Products Ltd. and its more than 20 workers. It’s the largest boat the Wheatley ship builder has sent out of the harbour in four or five years and is larger than a fire boat built in 2007 for Baltimore.
On Friday morning the Chicago fire boat will leave the harbour and could be passing down the Detroit River that afternoon. It will head through Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan before reaching Chicago Sunday night, if the weather co-operates.
The boat carries the Wheatley name in a touching coincidence that surprised fire officials in Chicago and the ship builders here.
The fire boat is called the Christopher Wheatley for a 31-year-old Chicago firefighter who died Aug. 9 in the line of duty. He was carrying equipment up a fire escape during a restaurant fire when he fell to his death.
His father Daniel Wheatley said after the Chicago Fire Department told him the city’s replacement fire boat would be commissioned in his son’s name, he asked about who was building the boat. When he looked up Hike Metal’s website and saw the location he was stunned. He travelled to Wheatley in March to see the boat and the village.
Not many firefighters in Chicago know what name the fire boat will bear when it arrives. Hike Metal officials found out about the coincidence four months ago when they asked what name to put on the boat.
Company president Andy Stanton said Wheatley’s not a common name and he’s pleased a hero will carry the Wheatley name out of the harbour. “We were very surprised.”
The Christopher Wheatley is a heavy duty fire boat designed to break up to 12 inches of ice so it can operate year-round.
It can be used with scuba divers, for rescues, for firefighting with foam or water and as a pumping station to supplement the city’s firemain supply of water. It can be run with a crew of five or up to 10 when fighting a fire. It has a kitchen, washroom and crew accommodations below decks.
One of the four monitor nozzles sits on a platform that can be elevated 30 feet and the force of the spray will be enough to blast brick off the side of a building, Stanton said.
To be able to pass underneath low bridges, the boat was built so the mast comes down and it sits no more than 16 feet out of the water. It has four engines, two for the water pumps and two 1,500 horsepower propulsion engines to drive the boat. It can travel at 12 knots or at three knots through ice.
Dan submitted photos that we posted HERE.
Chicago's new fire boat sits completed and ready to head out in a week. Dan Jasina photo
Apr 9
Dan Jasina and a group of Detroit buffs were at Hike Metal Products in Wheatley, Ontario today and took a bunch of photos of Chicago’s new fire boat. The boat is scheduled to leave Wheatley this Friday, April 15, for its maiden voyage to Chicago. Dan submitted several images of the boat.
Chicago's new fire boat sits completed and ready to head out in a week. Dan Jasina photo
A profile of the boat shows it's full length. Dan Jasina photo
The rear of the boat shows a turret gun perched on a platform above the deck. Dan Jasina photo
Inside the deckhouse is the command center. Dan Jasina photo
Three water cannons are mounted at the bow of the boar. Dan Jasina photo
A closeup of the rear mounted water cannon which is capable of putting out 3,000 gallons per minute from a platform that can rise 30 feet in the air. Dan Jasina photo
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
