South Haven Area Emergency Services is getting a new fire boat to enhance water-based fire suppression, rescue, and dive response.
SHAES Director Brandon Hinz tells us the agency has had a fire boat for 26 years, but the current boat isn’t optimal for rescue operations, the main thing SHAES has noticed it needs the vessel for. So, the SHAES Authority Board has approved the $400,000 purchase of a new 28-foot Sounder vessel specially equipped to serve the SHAES Dive Team.
“It’s going to have a dive door off of the port side near the rear, and it’s going to have outdoor motors, which will be nice for maneuverability,” Hinz said. “Our current jet drive will pump water to no end. Maneuverability is a little tricky with a jet drive boat, but with the outboard, that’s going to make it a little bit easier.”
The new fire boat will also have a 500-gallon per minute pump for fire suppression.
Hinz says when he first looked for quotes on a new boat, they were coming in around $600,00 to $700,000, but he found help securing a major discount. And this boat will be around for a long time.
“It’s an aluminum hull, and this will be a — I guess you could say our ‘forever boat.’ 25, 30 years from now, if the motors need to be rehabbed or rebuilt, or the electrical needs to be rehabbed or rebuilt, it’s not going to break the bank.”
The boat will serve nearly 10 miles of shoreline and more than 1,000 boats in the South Haven harbor and Black River during peak summer months. The city of South Haven has offered dock space near City North Marina to speed response times, and fundraising is now underway for a $30,000 boat lift.
The new vessel will go into service in 2027.
Below: the current fire boat.
