It may have come three days too late for Hudson County Freeholder Sal Vega, who had to be rescued from the Hudson River Monday, but nonetheless, Hoboken fire and city officials were proud to put into service a newly donated water surface rescue boat Thursday morning.
According to the mayor’s spokesperson, Bill Campbell, this is the first water rescue unit in Hudson County and will serve, as needed, all Hudson County waterfront communities.
At the ceremony at Castle Point Park Thursday, Dive Master and Hoboken Fire Department Capt. Vince Guinta demonstrated how the new boat can perform in action. The simulation included a kayaker who had fallen out of his boat and was being carried helplessly by the swift current of the Hudson. Zipping south down the Hudson from its Shipyard’s Marina was the 19 foot V-hulled speed boat manned by members of the nine-member Surface Water Rescue Unit.
The boat circled the faux victim, threw him a safety ring and pulled him to safety in the boat.
"We have noticed in the past four or five years that the number of people using the waterfront for recreational purposes has increased dramatically," said Guinta, a 34-year veteran of the Fire Department, Thursday morning. "Some of these people don’t understand how to operate their craft or [they] underestimate the power of the current. This puts them in a dangerous situation where they might need rescuing."
He added that in the past, the city was reliant on the Coast Guard and New York Harbor Patrol when it came to water rescue.
Guinta is the Fire Department’s dive master, who is certified by Lifeguard Systems in rapid deployment search and rescue and recovery.
He added that the current at the stretch of the Hudson River at Hoboken is particularly swift, anywhere between one and five knots. In layman’s terms, five knows would mean that a floating object would travel 500 meters down the river in one minute.
"This boat is a surface water rescue boat that can handle any number of mishaps," he said, "from the collision of two boats, to a person jumping or falling off a pier."
He said that a boat can respond within a one-and-a-half-mile radius of its dock in less than 12 minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He added that another reason for the unit is that in a post-9/11 reality, all communities, unlike before, have to be prepared for larger-scale catastrophes. The surface rescue boat, said Guinta, would be able to assist in the event of a disaster.
According to Guinta, the boat was donated by a Hoboken resident and dive master. The name of the person who made the donation was not released.
For the past three years the Hoboken Fire Department owned a 10-foot inflatable raft with a small propeller motor for water rescues, but it was too slow and small to really be used as a water rescue vehicle.
Future plans
Hoboken Fire Chief John J. Cassesa said Thursday that the department is currently in the process of training the nine-member unit for underwater rescue.
"[Capt. Guinta] is training nine department members in underwater search and rescue/recovery techniques," said the chief. "We anticipate that we will be ready to perform underwater services within the next four weeks. In addition, the Hoboken Fire Department is in the process of acquiring a new watercraft."
He said that the new craft will be much larger in size. He is hoping to get a 28-foot vessel with a dive platform, and with suppression capability.
Cassesa added that currently, North Hudson Fire & Rescue is the only other Hudson County unit with a fireboat. He added that the boat that the North Hudson Fire Rescue currently owns, which is outfitted with a water hose, is only used for fire suppression. He added that it is too small and slow to be used for surface rescue or underwater rescue.
Cassesa also said that he hopes the new boat, when purchased, will be able to both suppress fires and participate in rescue efforts.
"We want a boat that is going to be able to perform both tasks," he said.