The week of
April 15, 2013 was one that will not soon be forgotten. The bombings at the
Boston Marathon and the explosion of the fertilizer plant in West, Texas were
the two major events of the week that required extraordinary action on the part
of American first responders.
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| Mystic Seaport. Rosenfeld Collection. Accession number 1984.187.27083 |
This photo
showing two New York City Fire Department fireboats reminds us that
firefighters and police work on the water as well. The two boats, JOHN D. MCKEAN
in the foreground along with FIRE FIGHTER, are pictured with the Statue of
Liberty in the background. The two boats were not only the most powerful
fireboats in the NYFD fleet pumping 19,000 and 20,000 gallons per minute, but
also the most famous. FIRE FIGHTER responded to more than fifty fires, including
the fire that destroyed the NORMANDIE in 1942. Among other incidents, the JOHN
D. MCKEAN, named after a marine engineer killed aboard the fireboat GEORGE B.
MCLELLAN, was quickly on the scene in Manhattan after September 11 and rescued
passengers from U.S Airways Flight 1549 in 2009, the crash that became known as
the Miracle on the Hudson.
To read more
about these extraordinary boats and the exceptional people involved with them, visit
the Marine 1 FDNY website.