Thanks to the efforts of Congressman George Miller (D-CA), the Hoga, a US Navy Woban-class district harbor tug, was loaned to the City of Oakland by the Navy in 1948 after being utilized at Pearl Harbor. Upon its arrival, the Hoga was renamed the Port of Oakland, which was later changed to the City of Oakland.
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| Caption in the photo: Fireboat City of Oakland Ex-Hoga Oakland, California Owner: United States Navy President Jimmy Carter touring the Port of Oakland aboard the fireboat. Photo #2 by Norm Fisher, 1980 Courtesy of: Port of Oakland Source: http://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NHLS/Photos/89001429.pdf |
Under the agreement between the Port of Oakland and the City, the Hoga had "Port-financed alterations to increase the pumping capacity from 4,000 to 10,000 US gal/min, a berth, a new firehouse, and partial defrayment of the salaries of the crew. The City would operate and pay part of the fire boat crew's salaries." The benefits of a fire boat, outlined here by former Mayor Joseph E. Smith, say that "Oakland will receive excellent fire protection along its valuable waterfront properties." Along with "safe navigation and emergency response to the maritime community," fire boats are significant resources for "search and rescue operations, [being a] platform for launching SCUBA operations, conducting harbor safety patrols. assisting disabled boaters, hazardous material mitigation," and other special needs of individual circumstances. Although the frequency of fire boat use is generally low, the hazardous materials that confront ports during everyday operations pose a need for the versatile vessels.
The Hoga was returned to the Navy in 1994 and was harbored for numerous years at the Maritime Administration's Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. Then, in 2012, the Hoga was transferred to North Little Rock, Arkansas to be displayed at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.
The Sea Wolf, the City of Oakland's other fire boat, was unfortunately decommissioned due to budget cuts in 2004. Despite this, the Sea Wolf remains a resource to the City of Oakland for water reserves in the case of an earthquake. Purchased in 1994 with "$1.3 million from a voter-approved emergency preparedness bond to be the city's primary water source in the event that water mains are ruptured in a major earthquake," the SeaWolf replaced the much-loved Hoga. "The Sea-Wolf was out on the water about five times a week," Lieutenant Scott Hellige, a former Fire boat Operator/Marine Pilot for the Sea-Wolf said in an Oakland North article, "responding to calls—mostly waterfront fires, persons in the water, or sinking vessels." Since Oakland had a $48.3 million funding gap, the Sea-Wolf's annual cost of $2.2 million was deemed unnecessary. "We don't need the fireboat a lot," Hellige commented, "But when it's called for, it's an awesome tool."
The Sea Wolf was instrumental in fighting many waterfront fires, and its power can be seen in the Oakland North article that recounts a fire at Tiki Tom's:
"Visible on shore, three fire engines were still shooting large streams of water at Tiki Tom’s. A boat that had been tied up behind the restaurant had caught fire and was slowly drifting toward the boardwalk connecting the restaurants to a block of condominiums.
The condominiums had people in them. The flaming boat presented a serious threat.
But the Sea-Wolf was designed to be able to extinguish fires consuming large warehouses or entire piers, Hellige says, so it had more than enough power to snuff out the fire consuming both the boat and restaurant. The fire boat's main turret can shoot 3,600 gallons of water per minute. With two additional turrets each pushing 1,500 gallons a minute at Tiki Tom's, the flames quickly began to die. 'They went out in two to five minutes,' Hellige says. 'It was radical. It was dramatic.'
The Sea-Wolf's water-pumping capacity, when all four turrets are going at once, exceeds the capacity of everything in the fire department,' Hellige says. 'And that is just the minimum of flow' when it comes to the new Fast Response Fireboats, he says. New York City's newest fire boat can pump 50,000 gallons of water per minute while firefighting."
While Oakland does not currently have any fire boats on active duty, we will forever honor the memory of having the Hoga and the Sea Wolf serve our city.
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| The Sea Wolf displaying its turrets' abilities. Source: http://www.boatingsf.com/boat-gallery/sea-wolf |
The Sea Wolf was instrumental in fighting many waterfront fires, and its power can be seen in the Oakland North article that recounts a fire at Tiki Tom's:
"Visible on shore, three fire engines were still shooting large streams of water at Tiki Tom’s. A boat that had been tied up behind the restaurant had caught fire and was slowly drifting toward the boardwalk connecting the restaurants to a block of condominiums.
The condominiums had people in them. The flaming boat presented a serious threat.
But the Sea-Wolf was designed to be able to extinguish fires consuming large warehouses or entire piers, Hellige says, so it had more than enough power to snuff out the fire consuming both the boat and restaurant. The fire boat's main turret can shoot 3,600 gallons of water per minute. With two additional turrets each pushing 1,500 gallons a minute at Tiki Tom's, the flames quickly began to die. 'They went out in two to five minutes,' Hellige says. 'It was radical. It was dramatic.'
The Sea-Wolf's water-pumping capacity, when all four turrets are going at once, exceeds the capacity of everything in the fire department,' Hellige says. 'And that is just the minimum of flow' when it comes to the new Fast Response Fireboats, he says. New York City's newest fire boat can pump 50,000 gallons of water per minute while firefighting."
While Oakland does not currently have any fire boats on active duty, we will forever honor the memory of having the Hoga and the Sea Wolf serve our city.
Sources:
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