New Boat in York Will Close Firefighting Gap

By Sam Thrift Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The York County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution that allowed the York County Fire Department to accept a grant that would pay for a new firefighting boat at their regular June meeting, despite concern from two Board of Supervisors candidates that the free boat would end up being costly to the county.

At the meeting, the board approved the resolution to accept a competitive Homeland Security Port Security Grant that will provide $550,000 in funding a new boat. Previously appropriated Virginia Department of Fire Programs grant funds will provide for the remaining funding of the boat and associated equipment, which totals $640,506.

York County Fire Chief Steve Kopczynski explained at the meeting that there is a need for a new boat and the grant, which doesn’t need to be matched with local funds, would be the best way to replace the current boat. He described the boat the department uses now as 23-foot May-Craft “fishing” boat.

Captain Paul Long, deputy coordinator of emergency management, said in an email that the York County Department of Fire Life and Safety didn’t have solid figures as to how much maintaining the boat would cost. “The department is currently incurring some of these costs for its current boat,” Long said. “It is anticipated that these costs will increase; however, we do not have precise costs as of yet.”

Long explained that the department also anticipates support, sustainment and maintenance funding from their Maritime Incident Response Team relationship - a multijurisdictional task force that includes the York department and is assembled by the Virginia Port Authority - and other possible grants that may become available.

Two Republican Board of Supervisor candidates who will challenge incumbents in the primary next month spoke at the beginning of the meeting, asking the board to hold off on approving the resolution until the cost of maintaining the boat was considered.

Bob D’Eramo, a District 3 candidate running against incumbent Don Wiggins, cited his years of Coast Guard experience as he spoke about the high costs of maintaining such a boat. “My issue is not the acquisition of the boat or the cost of the acquisition, which is apparently nothing; it’s the expense of running such a boat.

“The equipment itself is very prone to maintenance, especially in saltwater. The bowels, the pumps, the special equipment, rusts and breaks down often,” D’Eramo said. “The chemicals used are very caustic, pollutants to the bay.”

D’Eramo claimed that the current fireboat is barely used and funding a new boat would be wasteful. District 2 candidate Frank Barger, who is running against Sheila Noll, had similar concerns.

“I’m just wondering why we are going to take on an additional expense with the cost of fuel and the cost of maintenance of these boats [in this economy],” Barger said. “There is one good use for it. We could get it and sell it on eBay and make a little profit. Other than that, I can’t see a reason for having it.”

District 5 Supervisor Tom Shepperd questioned Kopczynski about the cost of maintaining, operating and training people to use the boat. Kopczynski did not have a definite number on how much maintaining the boat would cost, but said that individuals are trained and will continue to be trained through the Virginia Port Authority.  

“Our department believes that there is a need [for a new boat],” Kopczynski told the board. “We operate a smaller vessel now, which is basically a recreational boat that we acquired in the '90s. It has a portable 150-gallon fire pump that’s really not effective for fire fighter operations.”

Kopczynski explained that the boat would be used for a variety of emergencies on the 230 miles of York County shoreline. He explained that the last time the current boat had been used prior to the meeting was a boat fire two weeks before at the mouth of the York River at the Chesapeake Bay.

“We get called out for all kinds of emergency incidents,” Kopczynski added. “Everything from people jumping off the Coleman Bridge, to capsized boats, often in severe thunderstorms, to flare sightings, to fires.”

Kopczynski explained that the Maritime Association and members of the Coast Guard agreed that there is a need for a quality boat in York County when the amount of coast compared to the amount of emergency response coverage available is considered. “It was pretty obvious to us that there was a big gap in the Hampton Roads region, mainly on the York River,” Kopczynski said.

The Board agreed with Kopczynski, approving the resolution 5-0.

“The bottom line of what I’m hearing from you and the experts is that we’re short of a boat and that we need to modernize the equipment,” Shepperd said. “This is something that will meet the needs and protect the citizens of not only York County, but other localities among the coast.”

The new 30-foot boat will be docked at Riverwalk Landing in Yorktown and at the Wormley Creek Marina at the mouth of Wormley Creek and the York River.