Aug. 28, 2001 – Thanks to a cooperative effort, St. John now has a fire boat. At a ceremony Tuesday, V.I. National Park officials formally turned one of the park's older 22-foot Boston Whalers over to V.I. Fire Services.
Brian Chapman, deputy fire chief for St. John, said he expects the boat to go into service by December. It needs between $3,000 and $4,000 worth of safety and firefighting equipment to make it usable for fighting fires. Fire Services Director Ian Williams Sr. said his agency will cover the costs of the equipment.
"We've always cooperated unofficially, but this is a new level of cooperation," park Deputy Supt. Judy Shafer said at the ceremony, held at the national park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay.
The boat has been named the Gail Benjamin in honor of a St. Thomas junior firefighter who died in a fire at her Tutu home while trying to save her brother. The accident happened in the early 1980s when Gail was in her early teens.
While the potential for a fire disaster at sea has always existed, the need became more apparent when the barge Roanoke, also called Tuglife, and the Caribe Tide ferry collided in March. While there was no fire, the accident brought the possibility to the forefront. Around the same time, a charter boat anchored in the Cruz Bay harbor caught fire.
Shafer said the park, which does not have its own firefighting equipment, has always relied on Fire Services to battle any blazes within the park. Both she and Chapman marveled that the entire donation process, including going through local government channels, took only about two months.
Williams took the opportunity at the ceremony to put out a call for St. John residents to apply for firefighter positions. He said 16 positions are open on St. John and St. Thomas.
