There was a marina fire this morning in Seattle. A SPD boat showed up fairly quick, but the FD boat took over 25 minutes to respond. The fire crew bunks in downtown, therefore they have to drive to Fisherman's Terminal. And the fireboat is *required* to obey the seven knot speed limit. ?!?
So Seattle's illustrious mayor, Greg Nickels, is proposing a $167,000,000 levy to buy "newer" fireboats. The crew will still have to drive from downtown, and the boats will still be required to obey the seven knot speed limit. But Nickels says the newer boats will be worth it because they're faster. ???????????
And the fireboat is *required* to obey the seven knot speed limit. ?!?
Considering they have one in Tacoma that is capable of 70 knots (and therefore could have made the trip in the same time) that seems kinda dumb (OK - it's an understatement). Especially when the Tacoma boat is a sidewall hovercraft that makes less waves the faster it goes.
