MONROE CITY, Mo. -- The Monroe City Fire Protection District has a new firefighting weapon in its arsenal. The district earlier this summer put its first fireboat into service. The vessel is based at the Indian Creek Marina at Mark Twain Lake, and will be available for any type of fire or emergency occurring at the lake.
The boat also will be available for mutual aid calls when other fire departments in Northeast Missouri need help battling a blaze on or around water. The boat quickly can be loaded onto a trailer and hauled elsewhere -- even to incidents on the Mississippi River.
"We can pretty much take it wherever we need to," said Monroe City Fire Chief Rich Enochs.
The 23-foot-long Sea Arc boat was previously used by the Missouri Department of Conservation for law enforcement patrols in the Lebanon area. The DOC no longer needed the boat and offered it to Missouri fire departments. Monroe City made a pitch and was awarded the boat at no cost.
"One of the reasons I saw that we really needed a boat was that we've had a few fires on the lake," Enochs explained. "We had no way to get out there and do anything with them."
The boat will not only give firefighters easier access to a boat on the water that experiences a fire or other emergency, but it also will be of help should a fire ever occur at one of the marinas or other lakeside facilities.
"With this boat, we can fight a fire from both ends," Enochs said. "We can fight it from the water and also from the land."
The Monroe City Fire Protection District took possession of the boat last year and gradually converted it for firefighting purposes.
According to Enochs, fire officials bought and installed a portable pump that can be used to shoot water under high pressure through a 11/2-inch hose stored on the boat.
In addition, the boat is equipped with a generator that will provide electricity to power lights and other equipment needed during nighttime calls.