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The Baltimore City Fire Department’s Marine Division has a long and distinguished history.
The birth of the Marine Division dates back to 1890. A city ordinance appropriated $35,000 to organize Engine Company #16, and the construction of the Marine Division’s first boat, Cataract. Cataract began service July 1, 1891.
Cataract’s valiant effort during the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 saved the Light St. docks and the east side of the city after the fire jumped the Jones Falls. According to baltimorefireboats.com:
Cataract
..As the inferno approached the harbor, the Fire Boat "Cataract" was dispatched to Pratt and Light Street, arriving at 7 PM., and pumped six lines of hose to the companies working on Baltimore Street. This operation was soon discontinued, as the heavy horse and wagon traffic on the downtown streets cut the hose to ribbons. The Fire Boat kept up steam, and waited, as the fire neared the harbor. Light Street and its numerous wooden docks had a narrow escape, and would no doubt have gone down in the general destruction but for the work of Captain German and the crew of the "Cataract", who fought the flames with all the stubbornness of men fighting in the last ditch. The "Cataract" poured thousands of tons of water upon the docks of Pratt Street as the unstoppable flames continued to advance through the night.
..The Fire Department's strategy was to keep the fire on the west side of Jones Falls, which separated the fire area from East Baltimore. 37 steam fire engines from Baltimore and surrounding cities and towns took up position along the Falls to battle the inferno.
..Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday, the flames jumped over to the east side of the Falls at the Maine Lake Ice Company near the harbor, and all of East Baltimore was threatened. The fireboat "Cataract", revenue cutter "William Windom", the tugs "Venus" and "Mary", along with a B&O Railroad tug, made an all out effort to pump full force with every stream available and the flames that had jumped the Falls were subdued and the City was saved.
As Baltimore grew and expanded so did the Marine Division. Baltimore gained more shoreline territory through its annexation of land from Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties. With additional waterfront to protect, in places like Canton and Curtis Bay, the Marine Division expanded to meet the need. By 1921, the Marine Division had four vessels placed at strategic locations to protect the harbor.
In the late 1950s, the fleet decommissioned its older boats and brought three 85 ft. vessels into service, the P.W. Wilkinson, Mayor J. Harold Grady, and August Emrich. They joined the Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., in making the Marine Division the most modern and well-equipped fleet in the country.
The 85 footers
However, Baltimore like all the industrial cities of the late 20th century began to transform. The heavy manufacturing, which was once the lifeblood of the city, disappeared from the waterfront giving way to cargo and shipping concerns. Due to this shift, the Maryland Port Authority assumed much of the fire protection responsibilities for the harbor. Dealing with new priorities the city downsized and reorganized the Marine Division. The transformation of waterfront industrial sites into marinas for pleasure boats forced a the Marine Division to augment its fleet with smaller faster craft to better respond to calls dealing with pleasure boating.
The Marine Division now operates four boats. The flagship is Fireboat 1 the John R. Frazier, the reserve fireboat is the Tommy along with two smaller, identical Fire/Rescue boats.
John R. Frazier
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