Station 35

From Station 8, I was told that Station 35 under the Bay Bridge was just a short stroll down the road. Well, either these guys have much longer legs than I do, or they are in much better shape - or maybe both! It took me well over a half hour to make my way to the waterfront. As promised, at Pier 22 I found Station 35 nestled at the base of the impressive Bay Bridge. Ed, who was riding Engine 35 that day, invited me into the house and brought me out back to get some photos of their two fire boats.

Fireboat #1, Phoenix, was built in 1954 and commissioned 1955. It was an essential resource following the 1989 earthquake, where it saved the Marina near Divisadero Street by pumping 6400 GPM for 15 hours straight - an impressive 5.75+ million gallons of water!

Fireboat #2, Guardian, was built in 1951 and purchased with the help of an anonymous $300,000 donation shortly following the 1989 earthquake. It made a legendary 1200 mile journey from its point of purchase in Vancouver, BC to San Francisco where its crew was given a hero's welcome.

(The above information was paraphrased from the San Francisco Fire Museum's web site. Click HERE to read their full write-ups on the fire boats.)

Click the thumbnails to view a larger photo in a separate browser window.

Station 35 covers a part of the beautfiul waterfront district	Engine 35 runs out of the front of this house (check out those bay doors!).....	..... while both boats run out of the back.
Fire boat #1 - Phoenix	Fire boat #2 - Guardian	Now THAT's a deck gun!
A better perspective of how tall that deck gun is - see it sticking up over the one-story building?	One more look at Station 35 as I walked down The Embarcadero

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Copyright © 2005 Sue-Lynn Hinson