After taking delivery of a new jet boat in February, the Garibaldi Fire Department is focusing on training personnel to operate the new vessel and has already used the vessel to respond to two emergency calls.
On a recent evening, the Headlight Herald tagged along on a joint-training with Garibaldi Fire and the Netarts-Oceanside Fire District in Netarts Bay and experienced the boat’s capabilities firsthand.
The flat-bottomed, 21-foot, jet-propelled boat is powered by a 2.3-liter Ford Ecoboost engine and is the first of its kind for the county’s first responders. It joins jet skis operated by the Netarts-Oceanside and Nehalem Fire Districts to expand the water-rescue capabilities of local fire departments and districts.
Funding for the $100,000 purchase came from an Oregon Department of Emergency Management grant awarded in 2021, and the vessel was built by River Wild Boats of Grants Pass, Oregon. Garibaldi’s is the first of four matching boats to be constructed and Garibaldi Deputy Fire Chief Blake Paulsen said that delivery happened months ahead of schedule, with an original delivery date of fall 2024 projected.
With the expedited construction timeline, members of the Garibaldi department were forced to accelerate their training, which began earlier this year. Garibaldi firefighters have worked with Coast Guard personnel and Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Dennis Greiner to get up to speed, and four operators have logged more than 50 hours of training, while four deckhands have more than 80 hours complete. Training efforts will continue, with Paulsen saying that personnel will spend three to eight hours a day four days a month on the water.
Thanks to its flat bottom and propeller-less propulsion system, the boat has a shallow draft and can navigate in areas with less than two feet of water. The jet propulsion system also helps the boat accelerate more quickly than a conventional propeller driven vessel. Together these factors allow the boat to respond to a wide range of emergencies in Tillamook, Nestucca, Nehalem or Netarts Bays and other waterways around the county.
At the training with Netarts-Oceanside, Paulsen said that the boat would be deployed with a minimum of three Garibaldi personnel and focus exclusively on estuarine waterways, leaving ocean rescues to the Coast Guard.
The jet boat saw its first action on April 1, when a crabbing boat crewmember sustained a hand injury in the boat’s bait chopper and required urgent medical attention. Garibaldi Fire responded in the jet boat, meeting the crabbers just inside the Tillamook Bay Bar and transporting the injured crew member to the Port of Garibaldi, whence a Life Flight helicopter transported him to Portland.
The boat has four seats including one at the helm, and Paulsen said that it could accommodate up to four crew and four firefighters. The boat has a GPS system capable of mapping channels or keeping track of a grid search and the department added a light to the boat’s bow to help with nighttime rescues.
In addition to Netarts-Oceanside Fire District, Garibaldi is conducting joint trainings on the boat with Nestucca Rural Fire Protection District, Tillamook Fire District and Nehalem Bay Fire and Rescue.
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