Fireboats in Norfolk, Virginia

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The Thomas Kevill is the most recent fireboat in Norfolk.

In 1924 Norfolk, Virginia commissioned the first of a number of fireboats in Norfolk, Virginia.^[1] She was a former United States Navy vessel, the USS 'Gen. Harvey H. Brown, christened the Vulcan. The Vulcan was a steam-powered vessel, requiring a crew of 18. She could project 6000 gallons per minute. She served until 1941.

In 2008, when the Vulcan II was acquired, Norfolk's only vessel was 22  ft (6.71  m) inflatable craft.^[1] The Vulcan II could project 2500 US gallons per minute. In 2013, she was supplemented by the Thomas Kevill.^[2][3] She cost about half a million dollars, three quarters of which were provided through a FEMA Port Security Grant. Like other fireboats funded by FEMA, in addition to fighting fires, and search and rescue, she is sealed so she can provide a front-line response to chemical spills or attacks by chemical weapons, and to biological or radiological threats. She has advanced sensors, including infrared sensors that aid in locating a fire's hot-spots, and to picking out the heads of distressed boaters or swimmers, in the dark or under conditions of blinding fog or smoke.

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