CITY OF NEWBURGH, NY— Firefighter Dany Camacho said the department's fireboat is like a Cadillac compared to the Newburgh Fire Department's old boat.
It's clear Newburgh's firefighters are as grateful today to have their more sophisticated boat as they were when they received it three years ago.
Acting Fire Chief Terry Ahlers, Capt. and Training Officer Rick Locicero and Firefighter Camacho recalled how difficult, and ultimately unsafe, it was to manage the old 21-foot-long fishing boat acquired in 1998. Ahlers said it only had the capacity to fit one victim inside at a time and didn't have enough space to perform CPR.
There were no lights mounted to its body, so firefighters would have to hold a spotlight at night. It had difficulty handling even slightly choppy waves and had virtually no instrumentation to detect shallow water or nearby vessels.
"It was scary in the old boat," Locicero said.
Ahlers, Camacho and Locicero went for a short ride in the newer fireboat on Wednesday to demonstrate how much more effective Newburgh rescuers can be as the Mid-Hudson's 2019 boating season gets underway.
Ahlers said his department has responded to one boat emergency this spring. Because of a manpower shortage, the department does not patrol the river.
The boat, christened Marine 1, has the same size water pump as pumps on the department's fire trucks. It has space to tend to injured victims both on its deck and inside a small cabin. A stretcher is carried on the back.
Firefighters being trained to drive the boat are put through a series of tests to master the complicated instrumentation in the worst conditions. Locicero said they will go out in inclement weather at night and ask firefighters to rely strictly on the instruments.
It has thus far been used to respond to a variety of fire situations, such as brush and boat fires, and, obviously, rescue missions for broken-down boats, sinking boats and bridge jumpers. Ahlers said it is also used to beef up security for local fireworks shows in the summer, and for mutual-aid response to incidents in other nearby river towns.
"They had a bridge jumper last year, and when there's a bridge jumper we get called right away. That's our best chance of finding the victim," Ahlers said. "And with the instrumentation, they turned on their flare and the guys were at the victim within literally minutes. Minutes."
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