The Little Fireboat That Could

How a Very Old Fireboat Found Its Way Back to Work, and Into the History Books

(CBS)  The red and white boat catches your eye as it churns along the Hudson River. While it might come across as a source for entertainment as it sprays water high into the air, in her day the Fireboat John J. Harvey - with the power of 20 firetrucks - was the toast of New York Harbor.

She heroically battled blazes on cargo unloaded on the city's piers.

"You'd have barrels of highly flammable petroleum next to cotton on a pier built of wood on wooden piles soaked in oil, so something would start and they'd burn all the time," Huntley Gill, one of the John J. Harvey's current owners, told CBS News "Sunday Morning" Senior Correspondent Rita Braver.

By the way, this gasoline-powered vessel was named for a fireboat captain who died on the job.

"This boat was built in what year?" Braver asked Gill.

"1931," Gill said. "She's the first large modern fireboat built in America in that everything before her was steam. It's really quite incredible."

But incredible or not, in 1994 New York City decided that the Harvey was over-the-hill and took her out of service. Six years later, she was to be auctioned off for scrap. That's when Gill, a preservation architect, and a group of about 20 friends heard about it.

"A bunch of us reached into our own pockets and said, 'This is just too interesting not to do,'" Gill told Braver. "I think we might have been inebriated when that happened. I've forgotten now."

"Your bid was for how much?" Braver.

"$28,010," Gill said, "because we heard a rumor that somebody was bidding $28,000. As it turns out, the next lowest bid was $10,600."

"Did you guys have any idea how expensive it would be once you had it?" Braver asked.

"We were totally deluded," Gill said laughing. "It's like a love affair. Once you're in it there's nothing you can do."

When Tim Ivory - known as "the man who can fix anything" - was hired on, he found the Harvey's mechanical systems in pretty good shape.

"It needed about 12 hours of love," Ivory told Braver. "Then from that point we had some things running."

And so the Harvey, now operated as a non-profit, was on the water again, manned mostly by volunteers like Captain Bob Lenney, who had actually worked on the fireboat for 31 years and retired when she went out of service.

"Oh, yeah, this is the best boat," Lenney told Braver. "Others think that theirs is the best, but this is the best."

Jessica DuLong, a dot-com manager who'd never even crewed before, worked her way up to chief engineer.

"I'm standing surrounded by five big, powerful diesel engines," DuLong told Braver. "I love that!"

The pick-up crew and the Harvey stayed busy celebrating harbor events and showing off for school kids. Then came Sept. 11, 2001.

"We heard from another co-owner," Gill told Braver. "He called the fire department and asked if you guys need help. They said, 'God knows we need all the help we can get. Just go down there and see if you can be of any use.'"

CBSNews.com Special Report: Eight Years After 9/11

Their first assignment was to help evacuate lower Manhattan.

"It was like the floodgates have opened," Ivory told Braver. "People poured onto the boat. We started heading north. As we're going north, this guy in the fire department sees this fireboat going by and says, 'We need them!'"

With hydrants blocked on land, hoses already had been strung from the city's two other fireboats, the river providing an unlimited water supply.

Of course the Harvey hadn't fought fires in years, and the crewmember assigned to check out the 20 hose valves found a problem

"Got all the way around on this thing and there was just two that worked," Ivory told Braver.

But Ivory, himself a former firefighter, was able to jury-rig a solution.

"It was just 'Let's try this,'" Ivory told Braver. "For all I know, it could've failed miserably. Maybe it was divine intervention. I don't know."

The Harvey kept at it for three days, pumping some 38 million gallons. DuLong has documented its 9/11 role in a new book.

"I could see that this boat was doing the job that it was built to do," DuLong told Braver. "That was just overwhelming to me."

"You put everything else aside," Ivory told Braver. "The tragedy aspect of it, you block out otherwise you're not functional. You kind of focus on what's the next step of the job."

And so the story of the John J. Harvey has a happy ending: recognition in the Congressional Record and a slew of awards.

"Every fireboat and every boat built since 1931 owes her a debt," Gill told Braver. "In technology and the thinking and design, that's an artifact that if you can keep it alive and if you can keep it working, now that's a job of work, as my grandfather would have said. That's really a great thing."

[suzy2741]

My father was a highly respected Birmingham, ALA fireman. I lived in NYC for 30 years and took pleasure in chatting with NYFD firemen whenever I had the opportunity. I so enjoyed your story of the Harvey and look forward tp reading the books. Although I returned to the South a few years ago, in my heart I will always be a New Yorker. I miss it every day. Thanks for all the pictures of the fireboats and the brave Americans who are always on duty when help is needed.

[josephcowherd]

The Harvey's significance in fire service history cannot be overstated. This boat is a technological marvel, and continues to serve a very important role. I too hope the video from the show is made public, and urge the country to rally behind supporting the boat's ongoing mission at fireboat.org

[SunnyPeg]

My father, Walter Hess, was a member of the FDNY and served on the Harvey from 1932 until 1953. I really enjoyed the story and I would also love to have a CD. Hope this is possible.

Margaret Hess Griffin

[rschae]

If you have children or grandchildren, you should think about finding a copy of the book I mention above, Fireboat.

[josephcowherd]

The childrens' book happens to be how I learned about the fireboat. My kids and I read the book one weekend morning, looked them up on the web, and we were circling Manhattan later that day.

[Station70Member]

Do you believe in coincidences? My volunteer fire department began talking THIS week with our local town's Mayor about placing one of our surplus pumps on the town pontoon boat to assist with fires on boats, hillsides, or homes close to the water. Amazing.

[rschae]

I enjoyed the story of the John J. Harvey. I am a teacher and have been using a book titled "Fireboat, The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey" by Maira Kalman for a number of years in my classroom. I use it on September 11 during the time period that we remember the events of this day in history. The story of the John J. Harvey allows young children an opportunity to be exposed to some of the heroic events of September 11. This year I read it to my new students in 8th Grade Reading. I will link this news feature to my students Moodle accounts so that they can read your feature for themselves. Thanks for the story.

[WILLMARR]

Great story, great boat BUT NOT the first large non-steam fire boat. The Los Angeles City Fire Department took delivery of Fire Boat 2 -(later Ralph J. Scott) on Oct. 20, 1925, 6 years before the John J. Harvey was launched. Boat 2, built by the L.A. Shipyard is 99'3" long, 19' beam, 9' hold and when delivered was gasoline powered and rated at 10,200 GPM, which could all be delivered through the 6" nozzle of a large deck gun (wagon battery) for a distance of 400'. When built is was capable of 17 knotts making it the fastest fire boat afloat. The Boat was repowered several times and when retired, its desiel engines could deliver almost 19,000 GPM from the original pumps. The Boat was housed at Berth 226-227 (Fire Station 112) until 1986 when moved to the new station accross the main channel. The Boat, now on the National Historical Landmark Registry, was officialy replaced April 2, 2003 by the new 38,500 GPM-105' long, Fire Boat 2 and is now on dry land, being refurbished for Museum duty adjacent to FS 112 (Berths 87 & 88). More @ www.lafire,com/fire_boats/Boat2.htm

[gart3139]

Thank you for the warm story about an incident that took place on the terrible day. I was aware of the Harvey's contribution because I watched the entire horror. As a retired volunteer firefighter, it sure hit a hot spot. I currently live in Cecil Co., MD and each of the 9 companies have a "fire" boat and my local company, Chesapeake City, has a 27 foot fireboat that is fully capable of fighting fires on the water. Boat #272 is normally moored at the Corps of Eng. facility in Chesapeake City during the normal boating season. It is situated on the Chesapeake and Deaware Canal, just above the begining of the Chesapeake Bay.

Being the greedy person I am, would it be possible to get two copies of the report. One for CCVFC of Chesapeake City and the other for my life membership company, Friendship Fire Comapany of Woodbury NJ and their fire museum.

Sunday Morning is my favorite new program. They have enough time to flesh out a story and to touch on those other important aspects of our life.

[bobcardwell]

This is a great story. I too would like the video.

[mainstreetcitizen]

Wow, great story. The owners should think about having someone build and market a minature of the boat as a fund raiser...I'd buy one. I'd be proud to have the Harvey sitting on my book shelf.

This just shows that the "latest technology" is not necessarily the best solution to a problem.

[FireCapt108]

What a great story! Would you please post the video so we can watch it?

Thanks!