The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District (TDFPD) in Lake Tahoe, Nev., has taken delivery of a 32-foot fireboat that allows it to utilize lake water for firefighting. The boat, named Marine 24, is in service 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, with marine firefighter training for all crews to be completed this spring, according to boat manufacturer Lake Assault Boats.

The boat is designed to respond to a wide range of emergencies, including structural and wildland fires and on-the-water rescue operations. It is funded, in part, by donations and fees collected for membership in a fee-for-service program.

“Homes today around Lake Tahoe are larger, built closer together, and located further from the lake, while emergency access is hampered by narrow roads and limited turnarounds for responding fire trucks; that makes this fireboat an important new tool in our firefighting arsenal,” said Eric Guevin, fire marshal for TDFPD. “We really needed this apparatus to meet the code requirements and provide fire protection to homes along the lake that are not yet connected to a municipal water system.”

The V-hull, landing craft-style fireboat is outfitted with twin 350-hp Mercury Verado four-stroke outboard engines and is equipped with the Skyhook Digital Anchor and Joystick Piloting systems that significantly improve the craft’s on-the-water performance. It features a 1,500 gallon-per-minute Darley pump (powered by a dedicated V-8  engine), a rooftop remote-controlled TFT Monsoon monitor, two deck monitors, and a large diameter hose discharge mounted in front of the pilothouse to supply land-based apparatus. The boat also sports a 74-inch hydraulically operated bow door (with an integrated ladder), a port-side dive door, and hose storage compartments.

The pilothouse is 11 feet long and 9.5 feet wide, with center position fore and aft doors, 80 inches of headroom, and an integrated helm station. Its onboard electronics include dual 12-inch touchscreens mounted on the dash, Garmin radar and sonar with GPS, chartplotting, structure/side scan, and a forward looking infrared (FLIR) system.