Party Aims To Help Buy Sag Harbor A Proper Fireboat

Stephen J. Kotz | August 24, 2022 | Sag Harbor Express

When a powerboat caught fire between North Haven and Shelter Island over Memorial Day weekend, the fiberglass hull was quickly engulfed in flames and a plume of thick black smoke filled the air. The vessel sank as Sag Harbor firefighters tried to extinguish the flames — from a boat equipped with a portable pump.

Sag Harbor Village Trustee Tom Gardella, a former fire chief, said the blaze, which fortunately occurred in open water far away from other boats, underlined why the fire department needs a proper fireboat.

“As fire chief, there are a couple of scenarios that scare you,” Gardella said. “One is a fire on Main Street. The other is a fire on the water on a big yacht in the middle of the docks that you have a hard time getting to.”

Current Fire Chief Kevin O’Brien Jr. last year asked the Village Board to consider funding a fireboat equipped with a high-powered pump capable of producing at least 1,500 gallons per minute and outfitted like a floating ambulance. Although board members agreed there was a need for such a boat, they have yet to discuss the matter formally.

Trustee Aidan Corish, who oversees grant applications for the village, said that grants for such requests are difficult to come by, but that the village would continue to explore other funding avenues.

Last fall, Gardella suggested the village also solicit private donations to help defray the cost, and now, the department, along with the Sag Harbor Partnership, is doing just that.

The two organizations have announced they would sponsor a fundraiser next month they hope will put a dent in what Gardella said could be the $700,000 cost of a properly equipped fireboat.

The “Rock the Boat” community party will take place at the firehouse on Brick Kiln Road from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 18. Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for children 10 and under. Sponsorships ranging from $500 to $10,000 are also being sought. Tickets are available at the Wharf Shop and Sag Harbor Liquor Store, and additional information can be obtained by visiting sagharborpartnership.org.

“It’s time to celebrate our volunteers and upgrade our internal village services that protect residents and visitors who are drawn to Sag Harbor for its historic charm, beautiful water access, and boating,” said Susan Mead, co-president of the Partnership, in a release.

The event will include a barbecue, raffle, face-painting for children, and dancing to the music of the HooDoo Loungers.

The partnership’s release notes that Sag Harbor is “eastern Long Island’s primary boating and yachting center and yet it remains largely unprotected from marine-based fires.”

The Partnership estimated that the village harbor is now visited by more than 1,000 boats per year, many of which are more than 200 feet long and carry thousands of gallons of fuel. Seaplanes also use the bay, adding another potential hazard.

Although the department’s dive team has two small boats, one of which is moored at the village dock and the other moored at a Southampton Town dock in Noyac, neither is equipped with the kind of gear needed to protect firefighters from the heat and smoke of burning chemicals. Their pumps, which might produce 250 gallons per minute, are simply not big enough to battle a major blaze. Nor are the boats equipped with the type of foam retardant that could halt a blaze in its path and reduce environmental damage to the bay and beaches.

Gardella said boat fires, while not that common, occur often enough that the department needs to be prepared.

A fire destroyed about a dozen powerboats at the Patchogue Shores Marina in 2016. Locally, besides the North Haven fire, there have been several serious incidents. In the summer of 2021, there was a fuel explosion on a boat in the mooring field, but the explosion apparently used up all the available oxygen inside the boat, so the fire extinguished itself. And in 2019, several people were injured when a powerboat struck a jetty in North Haven.

Gardella said he hoped the fundraising party might encourage the owners of large boats that moor in Sag Harbor to make contributions and encourage the Village Board to redouble its own fundraising efforts.

“When something is really wanted, somehow the money shows up,” he said. “It seems to me the rubber is going to meet the road. We need a fireboat, and it’s time to put your money where your mouth is.”

Gardella said the department had already picked a suitable boat and he plans to bring the matter to the full board shortly after the fundraiser to maintain momentum.

Corish said that while it appears unlikely the village would qualify for federal or state grants for a fireboat, it also might not sit well with homeowners to be saddled with the tax bill for equipment that would be perceived as serving only the wealthy owners of mega yachts.

He said the village could explore adding a surcharge to docking and mooring fees or approach neighboring municipalities to get them to share in the cost of a boat that could be deployed to their harbors and marinas as needed.