Firefighter Claims 343 Manned by Untrained Crew

June 20, 2011
The FDNY has been operating its new $27 million fireboat without a properly trained or licensed crew, a veteran firefighter charges.The department was in such a rush to get the pride of the fleet – named "343," for the number of firefighters who perished on 9/11 — into service last year that it broke the law by ordering Marine Unit members to take the ship out before they’d ever set foot aboard the massive, 500-ton, 8,000-horsepower boat.