The Cleveland Division of Fire will deploy their new fire boat Sunday

CLEVELAND - U.S. Navy officials will spend Sunday morning with Cleveland firefighters, visiting Station #1.

According to Cleveland Fire's Public Information Officer Larry Gray, firefighters and Navy officials will have breakfast then tour the fire station.

Next, they'll head down to a U.S. Navy vessel for a brief tour before the Cleveland Fire Department launches their new fire-rescue boat.

The Cleveland Division of Fire is excited to be placing a new Fire-Rescue Boat into service beginning with Navy Week and the Bicentennial Commemoration of the War of 1812.

The boat will augment CFD's current response to waterborne fire and rescue situations. It will also assist in protecting the waterways and coordinating responses with our partners- the US Coast Guard, Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), the Northern Border Initiative watercraft and a host of other regional assets that we are fortunate to have along the coast of Lake Erie.

The Division of Fire, along with our partners, identified a need for the boat to enhance emergency response capabilities and dive rescue throughout Northeast Ohio. The new boat, a 27 foot Boston Whaler, is outfitted with fire pumps, foam deployment capabilities, a dive platform, a SONAR unit, and a compliment of all-hazards dive and rescue equipment.

Cleveland’s new Fire boat was acquired through a grant from the 2008 Port Security Grant administered through the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA at a cost of approximately $300,000. The boat will be docked alongside the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and will respond to reported emergencies in and around the lakefront and the Cuyahoga River. It will be deployed during the boating season and will be manned by the Cleveland Fire Technical Task Force who currently responds to dive rescue situations and other water based rescues..