MARINE UNIT 76

The Harwich Fire department inherited Marine 76, a 22-foot Ambar Rigid Hull Rescue Boat from the US Coast Guard in 2007, and immediately placed it in service. Marine 76, nicknamed BOB (big orange boat), is docked at Saquatucket Harbor in order to facilitate a quick response to the waters of the Nantucket Sound. The HFD was fortunate enough to receive M-76 at no charge through the Department of Conservation and Recreation Bureau of Forest Fire Control liquidation of surplus vessels. The vessel came equipped with twin honda outboard motors, GPS, radar, radios, lights, tow bar, equipment and a trailer. This particular boat served at the Woods Hole and Chatham Coast Guard Stations. M-76 spent this past winter at the Cape Cod Tech where the students winterized the motors, completed yearly maintanence and did a complete run through of the boat. The boat was returned to the water in late March and runs as good as new.

Marine 76 was in the water less than 24 hours before it was used to rescue a young boy from the frigid waters !

Rapid Intervention Team

The Harwich Firefighters completed day 3 of Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) training. The three day class was co-sponsored by the Barnstable County Fire Academy and the HFD. The funded for the class came from a grant through the Homeland Security Firefighter Safety Grant. The RIT training is geared to survival, self-rescue and rapid rescue of down/injured firefighters. Firefighting is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and hundreds of firefighters are killed in the line of duty every year. This training will hopefully help prevent such a tragedy.