Lake Assault Boats, part of Fraser Shipyards and a manufacturer of purpose-built, mission-specific fire and rescue boats, placed a 31-foot fireboat into service on Lake of the Ozarks with the Osage Beach Fire Protection District in central Missouri.
“We love the new Lake Assault Boats vessel. The advanced technologies it features makes it easy to operate and improves our on-the-water performance,” said Fire Chief Paul Berardi of the Osage Beach Fire Protection District in Missouri. “After having it on duty for the past few months, we wouldn’t buy another fire boat without its state-of-the-art designs.”
Mission-specific fire
“The craft is similar to one that’s on duty south of us in Western Taney County in Branson, Missouri,” added Deputy Fire Chief Steve Lucas. “They graciously allowed us to test their Lake Assault fireboat for a full day. We came away thoroughly impressed with how it handles rough water and cuts through the biggest waves. We figured, why reinvent the wheel?”
Engineered on the shores of Lake Superior, the modified V-hull craft is 31-feet long and has a 10-foot, 6-inch beam. The boat’s draft is less than 18-inches with motors trimmed up and 24-inches when trimmed down. The craft includes a dive door on the port side as well as a fold down stair/ladder on the bow to aid in boarding and dis-embarking.
Ground base apparatus
A 5-inch gated discharge on the forward deck supplies water to the ground base apparatus
Power is supplied by twin 300 hp four-stroke Mercury outboards that are controlled through the Skyhook Digital Anchor and Joystick Piloting systems. “The craft is easy to manoeuvre in tight spaces, and holds its position while the fire pump is operating,” added Deputy Chief Lucas. “Plus, the learning curve for operators is fast, and that’s extremely important.”
The firefighting system includes a Darley PSDE 1,500 GPM fire pump that is driven by a dedicated 6.0L V-8 gas engine. There is an electronically controlled TFT Monsoon 1500 GPM rooftop monitor that offers an unobstructed range of at least 270 degrees and has a vertical coverage of 60 degrees above and five degrees below horizontal. A 5-inch gated discharge on the forward deck supplies water to the ground base apparatus.
Fully enclosed pilothouse
The vessel features a full width and fully enclosed pilothouse with an interior clearance height of 76-inches and a rooftop air conditioning and heating system. There is bench seating with storage underneath along the aft wall. The dash console provides ample room for fire pump controls and monitors, and includes two Garmin touchscreens that operate GPS, structure scan sonar, Chart Plotting, and forward-looking infrared (FLIR).
The department’s protection area is 105 square miles, and includes the busiest sections of Lake of the Ozarks, with 7,500 residents and up to 80,000 visitors from across the region on busy summer weekends.
